Venture capital company Bat VC has declared its foray into India, revealing intentions to invest as much as $100 million via its second fund, which aims at early-stage deeptech and artificial intelligence (AI) startups.

The fund, established by Manish Maheshwari, the ex-head of Twitter India, former Yahoo executive Aditya Mishra, and Ravi Metta, will concentrate on areas like fintech and business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS).

The trio serves as general partners at Bat VC, though Maheshwari will oversee the VC firm’s activities in India. "My relocation to Bengaluru highlights our belief in India's capacity to spearhead the forthcoming era of AI-driven worldwide expansion," stated Maheshwari.

"Our technical expertise allows us to spot high-potential AI startups early and assist them in achieving global growth," stated Metta.

The fund seeks to capitalize on India's 'golden era' of AI, referencing statistics showing the industry is expanding at a rate of 32% per year in the country and is expected to hit $23 billion by 2027.

Bat VC's significant investments from its initial fund consist of Wand AI, StockGro, Nickelytics (acquired), Accern (acquired), and Uptiq AI.

It also stated that cross-border AI investments between the US and India soared by 180% to reach $4.7 billion in 2023, and the blend of talent, capital, and market access positions India as a compelling investment environment.