Voice AI Solutions on the Rise in India
Industry reports highlight the burgeoning demand for voice AI solutions in India, as businesses increasingly recognize the potential of voice as a communication medium. This trend has spurred both enterprises and startups to integrate voice AI into their operations for enhanced efficiency in customer support, sales, hiring, and training.
Despite this market optimism, proving that businesses will invest in these technologies has been a significant hurdle. Bolna, a voice orchestration startup founded by Maitreya Wagh and Prateek Sachan, faced skepticism from Y Combinator, which rejected their application five times before ultimately accepting it into the Fall 2025 batch. The founders were initially doubted about their ability to monetize their idea.
“When we were applying for Y Combinator, the feedback we received was straightforward: while our product could create realistic voice agents, the Indian enterprises wouldn’t pay, making monetization a challenge,” Wagh mentioned in a conversation with TechCrunch.
However, persistence paid off. During their subsequent application, Bolna showcased a revenue of over $25,000 per month, attributed to pilot programs priced at $100 each, which have since increased to $500.
The positive momentum continues, as Bolna recently raised a $6.3 million seed round led by General Catalyst. Other participants included Y Combinator, Blume Ventures, and several individual investors like Aarthi Ramamurthy and Arpan Sheth.
The Product: Customizable Voice Solutions
Bolna’s primary offering is an orchestration layer that integrates and manages diverse AI voice technologies tailored to the unique communication needs in India. This includes features like noise cancellation and caller ID verification through Truecaller, as well as multilingual functionality.
The platform includes user-friendly features for Indian users, such as speaking numbers in English regardless of the primary language used and accommodating keypad inputs for more extensive responses.
Image Credits:Bolna
Wagh emphasized that Bolna’s core advantage lies in simplifying the process for users to create voice agents by merely describing their needs, even without technical expertise. Currently, about 75% of the company’s revenue comes from self-serve customers.
Moreover, Bolna’s orchestration layer facilitates model flexibility, allowing enterprises to switch between different voice models based on their effectiveness over time. This adaptability is particularly crucial for businesses looking to stay competitive.
Bolna counts various clients among its base, including Spinny, an online car reselling platform, and Snabbit, an on-demand househelp service. Most customers are small to medium-sized businesses utilizing Bolna’s self-serve platform. The startup is also targeting larger enterprises, having secured contracts with two major firms and additional pilots with four others.
With a growing workforce of nine forward-deployed engineers, Bolna aims to enhance support for enterprise clients, adding two to three specialists monthly to remain agile in the face of client demands.
Bolna’s growth trajectory is evident, with the company managing over 200,000 calls daily and approaching an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $700,000. While the majority of calls are in English or Hindi, there’s a marked increase in interaction in various regional languages.
Akarsh Shrivastava from General Catalyst expressed confidence in Bolna’s platform, citing its flexible orchestration capabilities as a significant draw for potential customers.
“Bolna offers the freedom to choose models as needed and can customize solutions according to individual requirements, making it a robust option for companies seeking a versatile voice solution,” Shrivastava noted in a recent communication with TechCrunch.
Image Credit: techcrunch.com
