Fund India

Last Friday, Rohith & I had the pleasure of sitting on the investor panel at Bengaluru GAFX 2025 — a premier event for India’s Animation, VFX and Gaming industries, with around 5k attendees and strong support from the Government of Karnataka 🎮🎨

Here’s a raw reflection of some of the startup pitches we had the chance to hear:

🔮 𝗩𝗥/𝗔𝗥/𝗠𝗥 are on the cusp of disrupting industries like education and design. While we're still working on bringing down the cost of hardware for widespread adoption, the platforms are now available for use case customization. 

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥:

- 𝘝𝘙 (𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺) = 𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥

- 𝘈𝘙 (𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺) = 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥

- 𝘔𝘙 (𝘔𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺) = 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴

✨ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 startups are starting to gain early customer traction. However, the path to monetization seems tricky, with paying customers still being relatively low (though platforms like Astrotalk are paving the way with positive market tailwinds).

🎮 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝘀 are rising in prominence, with a lot of exciting ideas emerging. Given the global nature of gaming, there’s HUGE potential here, especially with AI integration allowing for hyper-personalization and interactive features that enhance the user experience.

🎥 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 appear to be the most scalable opportunity at the moment. With the rise of micro-influencers, the demand for subscription-based editor co-pilots is seeing an uptrend. This space is poised for growth as more creators seek streamlined, AI-assisted editing solutions.

🛠️ 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁-𝘁𝗼-𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 are quickly reaching production-level standards. With Technicolor Group’s recent studio closure, we can expect further disruption in the media tech space as AI models improve their capabilities in generating images and videos at scale.

🤖 The 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜 is undeniable. Companies building in the application layer may soon face increasing competition as foundational AI models improve. Right now, the gap remains in producing consistent, high-quality outputs, but this will shrink as models evolve.

Lastly, 𝗩𝗥/𝗔𝗥/𝗠𝗥 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲-𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 is also showing maturity and readiness for wider adoption—a trend that could revolutionize workforce training.

Excited to see where these industries lead next! 🚀 Follow me here for more such insights: https://www.linkedin.com/in/namanpandey101/