A wave of frustration is sweeping via India’s AI and SaaS startup ecosystem, sparking what founders name the ‘Skip India Motion’. There’s a rising sentiment that Indian enterprises are usually not definitely worth the time, effort, or assets required to promote to them.
Vaibhav Domkundwar, CEO of Higher Capital, urged beginning the motion and summed up the idea when he mentioned, “AI founders lastly skipping promoting to Indian prospects after doing PoCs after PoCs after which being requested for much more ‘free’ PoCs. There’s a restrict to this… Sufficient is sufficient.”
This isn’t a one-off case. It’s a recurring theme on X and LinkedIn, with founders and tech professionals sharing their exasperation over what they see as an ecosystem that exploits startups’ desperation for early prospects, with out paying up.
Skip India Motion
AI founders lastly skipping promoting to Indian prospects after doing PoCs after PoCs after which being requested for much more "free" PoCs.
There’s a restrict to this and founders are saying screw it and skipping promoting to Indian prospects. Sufficient is sufficient.…— Vaibhav Domkundwar (@vaibhavbetter) Could 25, 2025
‘By no means Do a Free POC’
In India, getting paid for a proof of idea (PoC) is changing into a uncommon win. Most early-stage startups discover themselves in countless gross sales loops the place potential purchasers demand more and more elaborate demos, solely to ghost with regards to business discussions.
Domkundwar clarified that this isn’t about India as a market, however about getting the primary buyer within the B2B software program sector. “Our information has again and again converged on the identical conclusion. I do hope it adjustments sooner or later for everybody’s profit,” he added.
Many agree with Domkundwar’s evaluation. Paras Chopra, founding father of Lossfunk, added to the dialogue, saying that he has banned builders at his agency from speaking to Indian prospects.
“It’s a tiny tech market, however a consolation zone. Many instances, founders find yourself optimising for the Indian market and realise they’ll’t scale additional,” Chopra mentioned. Pratik Desai, founding father of Kissan AI, additionally agreed with the sentiment.
This may also be correlated to the current debate round Sarvam AI’s newest mannequin constructed on prime of Mistral. A number of critics argue that making a fine-tune mannequin for Indian customers shouldn’t be one thing that startups ought to essentially concentrate on because it may also be replicated by greater firms like OpenAI and Google.
Learn extra: Sarvam AI’s Backlash Exposes the Sad State of Indian AI
There are a number of founders with tales of detailed PoCs that led to silence. “In 2023, a buyer ghosted us after we constructed an in depth PoC,” mentioned Navaneeth PK, founding father of Tooljet. “They resurfaced this month asking for technical assist to ‘pitch a robust case to administration’… once more, no readability on commercials. We mentioned no.”
Some startups are realising that Indian enterprises usually use PoCs as bargaining chips. Many purchasers leverage this system solely to decrease the pricing of the popular vendor.
Rajeshree Deotalu, co-founder of Vecros tech, captured the emotional fatigue many founders really feel when promoting to Indian enterprises. “You show, pilot, impress… after which both get ghosted or requested for yet one more free PoC.”
Regardless of the setbacks, she stays dedicated. “It’s disappointing, sure—however we’re nonetheless within the sport, as a result of somebody has to construct for India and past.”
Even for the larger IT companies of India, lots of their AI merchandise have been scaling from PoC to manufacturing for the final three years.
Higher ROI within the West
Founders at the moment are taking their abilities elsewhere—largely to the US, the place prospects are perceived to be extra keen to pay, sooner to resolve, and extra respectful of the time and tech being provided. “In case you’re a startup, then completely cater to the US first,” mentioned Michael Fowlie. “It’s wealthy, uniform, and large.”
The startup founders by some means agree that skipping native POCs can save time and align higher with international product-market match.
However Indian companies additionally want the perfect software program in the event that they need to present world-class service. Aakrit Vaish, co-founder & CEO of Haptik, disagreed with the motion. He pushed again towards this defeatist narrative, arguing that the founders simply haven’t gone deep sufficient into India-specific issues.
“In case you deal with Indian enterprises like your ticket to in the end go to the US, count on the identical short-sightedness from them,” he mentioned. “The TAM is now large enough in a number of segments for India-first B2B software program/AI firms to get to $50-75M in ARR in 5-7 years.”
Ritesh Kumar, founding father of TranZact, mentioned that if founders shift from “India as PoC” to “India as one of many locations,” all the PoC narrative can rework right into a collaborative innovation fairly than a gross sales hurdle.“Whether or not it’s AI or another tech, it should all the time be user-first is what we’ve witnessed,” Kumar mentioned.
Some argue that Indian enterprises solely take startups significantly when their merchandise include worldwide validation or pricing. “Indians largely want paying (worthwhile cash) for SaaS when it comes exterior India. Else, it must be low cost,” mentioned a person on X.
Naveen Varshneya from Saanjh.ai criticised the pattern amongst product firms in India, saying {that a} scalable product enterprise requires a 15-day trial interval. “Going for a PoC usually indicators an absence of imaginative and prescient or experience,” he mentioned, implying that such strikes mirror the mindset of service firms.
Domkundwar provided a counterpoint, saying that globally, many product firms run paid PoCs and work with design companions—an accepted apply in B2B. “The issue is, in India, it hardly ever converts,” he mentioned, highlighting that the free POCs mindset has to die.
Naveen Katti, founding father of Track2win, noticed that center administration in Indian enterprises usually finally ends up stifling startups, not out of malice, however as a byproduct of making an attempt to please their bosses. “It’s not an specific intent, however the final result appears to be that those that haven’t chosen the company route shouldn’t survive,” he famous.
Domkundwar added a cynical twist to that dynamic, saying, “Possibly that’s simply how they justify the time they spend doing this.”
Prakash Chandra Prodduturi argued that Indian enterprises have lengthy resisted paying for SaaS, and with AI, the interior construct mentality has solely grown stronger. “They’ll undergo lengthy PoCs, use them to be taught, after which stroll away. A brand new founder falls for it each time as a result of the lure of a emblem is simply too sturdy,” he mentioned.
The message from India’s AI founders is obvious: They’re completed ready for the Indian market to mature. Till then, the US is simply simpler.
The put up Free PoCs are Killing Indian AI Startups appeared first on Analytics India Journal.
