Pune-based AI startup CurvetAI has raised ₹6 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Merak Ventures, with participation from angel investors, reported on October 6, 2026.
The company was founded in December 2025 by Vivek Dubey, who previously worked at Infosys, Microsoft and Google, and Utkarsh Gupta, an ex-Samsung operator. It's a classic operator-founder pairing: deep enterprise and big-tech DNA applied to the hottest consumer-prosumer category of the moment.
CurvetAI is building a unified AI workspace that brings text, image, audio and video models together in one place — betting that users are tired of juggling a dozen disconnected AI subscriptions. The startup has already struck collaborations with GnaniAI, Rumik AI and Alibaba, signalling both domestic and international ambition.
What stands out is the velocity: within ten months of founding, CurvetAI has crossed 1 lakh monthly users, with India and the US as its top markets, and has already started generating revenue. For a pre-seed company, that combination of user scale and early monetisation is rare — and likely exactly what Merak underwrote.
The round also fits a broader pattern: Indian AI application-layer startups with credible founding teams are raising quickly, often with global user bases from day one.
Why it matters for founders
CurvetAI's story is a playbook in itself: operator pedigree + a clear wedge (unified AI workspace) + global distribution from month one. Pre-seed investors in 2026 are rewarding revenue signals early — if you can show paying users before your seed, you set the terms.