7 months ago
India's super-rich invest in US AI firms
India's richest people are putting their money into big American AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
These companies are very popular and hard to invest in directly, so the wealthy Indians are pooling their money together through special funds.
These funds are set up in places like the Cayman Islands to make the investments easier.
The investments are usually very big, and the money is tied up for a long time.
The investors hope to make a lot of money when these companies eventually go public or get sold.
Some of these companies might even start selling shares to the public in the next few years, which could be a good time for the investors to sell their shares and make a profit.
India's ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices are investing in US-based AI firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity.
Investments are made through pooled offshore vehicles and secondary-market access due to the difficulty of direct investment in these private companies.
The investments are structured in jurisdictions like Cayman, Mauritius, and Delaware to facilitate the transactions.
The ticket sizes for individual investors range from $150,000 to $500,000, while family offices can invest between $1 million and $5 million.
Exits from these investments are typically at the discretion of the fund manager and are long-duration, illiquid investments.
- Who
- India's ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices
- What
- Investing in US-based AI and LLM firms through pooled offshore vehicles
- Where
- US-based AI firms, with investments structured offshore in jurisdictions like Cayman, Mauritius, and Delaware
- When
- Recent investments, with significant activity in 2025
- Why
- To access private firms that typically do not accept direct individual shareholders and to diversify offshore investments
Key facts
- Investors
- Ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices
- Companies
- OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, xAI, SpaceX, FigureAI
- Investment Structure
- Pooled offshore vehicles and secondary-market access
- Jurisdictions
- Cayman, Mauritius, Delaware
- Investment Amount
- $80-$100 million in the past three months
- Ticket Sizes
- $150,000-$500,000 for individuals, $1-$5 million for family offices
- Exit Plans
- At the discretion of the fund manager, typically long-duration and illiquid
- Recent Funding Rounds
- Perplexity ($100M and $200M), OpenAI ($40B), Anthropic ($3.5B and $13B)
Quotes
Gautami Gavankar
President at Kotak Mahindra Bank
“No SpaceX or a company like SpaceX will take a single individual investor on its cap table without a work around.”
livemint.com
“So most investments into private companies typically happen through a fund structure outside India.”
livemint.com
Yogesh Kalwani
Head of investment and family office at InCred Wealth
“For the hottest artificial intelligence names, the SPV rounds typically require $50 million and above… maybe $100 million, while secondaries can be executed in smaller blocks, such as $5-10 million, making them more workable for pooled Indian capital.”
livemint.com
“You need to tie up a block, get into an SPV or a fund and the fund buys it.”
livemint.com
Sources
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