Companion Labs, a consumer AI startup building entertainment-led interactive experiences, has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Peak XV’s Surge programme.
The round also saw participation from All In Capital, UntitledVC, DeVC, and a group of angel investors.
The fresh capital will be used to speed up product development, deepen AI capabilities, and refine the platform as the company works towards achieving product–market fit, the startup said.
Founded in early 2025 by Akshay Jhanwar and Ajit Pol, Companion Labs focuses on building AI-powered, character-driven experiences tailored for India’s vernacular and culturally diverse audiences. The founders bring prior experience from companies such as CRED, Flipkart, and the gaming ecosystem.
The startup operates at the intersection of AI and entertainment, enabling users to explore alternate lives, careers, and aspirations through locally rooted narratives and AI-generated characters. Its products are designed with language, culture, and social context at the core, especially for users outside metro cities.
Companion Labs is building primarily for Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 markets, with a focus on vernacular languages including Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, and Bengali. The company aims to create a new category of AI-native entertainment built specifically for India’s fast-growing vernacular internet population.
