Bengaluru | February 26, 2026: Companion Labs, a consumer AI company building interactive, entertainment-led experiences for India’s vernacular and culturally diverse audiences, today announced it has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Peak XV’s Surge, with participation from All in Capital, UntitledVC, DeVC, and several angel investors.
Strategic Milestone
The announcement follows Companion Labs’ participation at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, where the company was featured at the flagship Impact AI PitchFest. Companion Labs was among a select group of startups backed by Peak XV, underscoring growing investor conviction in AI-native consumer products designed specifically for India’s next wave of internet users.
Company Vision
Operating at the intersection of AI and entertainment, Companion Labs creates immersive, character-driven experiences that allow users to explore alternate lives, careers, and aspirations through AI-powered narratives.
- Unlike productivity-focused AI tools, Companion Labs treats AI as a creative medium.
- Experiences are designed to reflect linguistic, cultural, and social nuances of Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 audiences.
- Focused on vernacular languages including Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, and Bengali.
- Targets India’s young, aspirational, digitally native population, where entertainment has historically driven the fastest adoption of new technology.
This vision aligns with broader industry trends highlighted at the India AI Impact Summit, where consumer-facing, population-scale AI products in local languages were identified as a key driver of India’s AI opportunity.
Founders and Leadership
Companion Labs was founded by:
- Akshay Jhanwar – Co-founder (ex-Cred, 4+ years experience).
- Ajit Pol – Co-founder (ex-Flipkart, Leap, gaming industry).
The founding insight emerged from their experimentation with global AI character platforms, which they found were Western in tone and context, limiting resonance with Indian users.
Akshay Jhanwar, Co-founder, Companion Labs, said: “India’s next wave of AI adoption will be driven by consumer experiences that feel native to our languages, cultures, and aspirations. We are building AI as a new form of entertainment, where people can explore alternate paths and identities in ways that feel deeply personal and rooted in their own context.”
Ajit Pol, Co-founder, Companion Labs, added: “Entertainment has always been the gateway to mass technology adoption in India. With AI, storytelling becomes interactive and personalised at scale. Our ambition is to build category-defining consumer AI experiences from India, for India.”
Funding Utilization
The seed funding will be used to:
- Accelerate product development.
- Invest in AI capabilities.
- Refine offerings as the company works toward product-market fit.
Long-term, Companion Labs aims to define a new category of AI-native entertainment built specifically for India’s vernacular internet users.
About Companion Labs
Companion Labs is a consumer AI company creating interactive, entertainment-led experiences tailored for India’s vernacular and culturally diverse audiences. Founded by Akshay Jhanwar and Ajit Pol, the company uses AI-powered characters and narratives to let users explore alternate lives, careers, and aspirations in deeply local contexts. Built from India, for India, Companion Labs reflects a broader shift toward consumer AI experiences that prioritize language, culture, and storytelling over generic utility.
🌐 More details: www.companionlabs.ai
