SoftBank returns to India with $70M bet on AI startup Emergent

Indian artificial-intelligence startup Emergent has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round. The round was jointly led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Khosla Ventures. According to sources with knowledge of the deal, the investment values the startup at $300 million post-money, up from a previous post-money valuation of $100 million reported by another source. The funding comes less than four months after Emergent raised a $23 million Series A round, bringing its total capital raised to $100 million within seven months of its launch. Other participants in the Series B round included Prosus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Together, and Y Combinator.

The startup’s financial and operational metrics include:

• Annual recurring revenue (ARR): Emergent claims $50 million in ARR and is targeting an ARR of more than $100 million by April 2026.
• User base: The platform has more than 5 million users across 190-plus countries.
• Funding history: A $70 million Series B following a $23 million Series A, totaling $100 million raised since launch.
• Headcount: Out of 75 total employees, 70 work from an office in Bengaluru, India, with the remainder in its San Francisco headquarters.

Emergent operates in the “vibe-coding” sector, which refers to AI-assisted coding that enables users to develop and deploy full-stack web and mobile applications without requiring traditional programming skills. The platform targets entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to build products without hiring large engineering teams. “We continue to see massive demand across our top geographies — the U.S., Europe, and India — and we’ll continue to expand deeper into these markets,” founder Mukund Jha said. The startup plans to use the fresh funding to expand its team, accelerate product development, and deepen its presence in key markets.

The startup competes with other AI-assisted coding platforms such as Lovable, Cursor, and Replit. The sector has drawn significant venture interest; for instance, competitor Rocket secured a $15 million seed round last year from investors including Accel, Together Fund, and Salesforce Ventures.

For SoftBank, the transaction marks its return to investing in India. The firm’s last investment in the country was in the commerce startup ElasticRun, nearly four years ago.

Why it matters

The transaction highlights the rapid growth of “vibe-coding” platforms that allow non-programmers to build software, while signaling a renewed appetite for Indian tech investments from major venture capital backers like SoftBank.