India’s AI startup funding story is moving quickly, with investors showing interest in the infrastructure and scientific-research side of artificial intelligence.

Simplismart is reportedly discussing a new $40-50 million funding round. Separately, Empirical Machines is said to be raising about $20 million from Peak XV Partners and Mettle Capital. Both deals are still based on media reports and discussions, rather than final company announcements.

Simplismart’s reported funding talks

Simplismart was founded in 2022 by Amritanshu Jain and Devansh Ghatak, who previously worked as machine-learning engineers. The company builds AI infrastructure, which means the behind-the-scenes technology that helps businesses run AI models reliably and at scale.

A simple example is an online business using an AI tool to read invoices or create product images. The business needs computing power, software and systems that keep the tool fast even when many users access it at once. Simplismart aims to handle that difficult technical layer.

According to reports, Peak XV Partners and Damac Digital are among the investors discussing participation in the new round. The capital could help Simplismart expand its infrastructure, build deeper cloud and data-centre partnerships, and serve more enterprise clients.

The company focuses strongly on AI inference. Inference is the stage where a trained AI model actually performs a task, such as answering a customer query, summarizing a document or generating an image. Fast and cost-efficient inference matters because it directly affects a company’s AI bill and user experience.

Empirical Machines and its $20 million round

Empirical Machines was founded by Shyamal Hitesh Anadkat, a former OpenAI researcher. A public founding year for the startup has not been confirmed in the reports available so far.

The company is working on AI systems that could speed up scientific discovery, particularly around chemical compounds. This may help researchers analyze large amounts of scientific data faster and identify promising paths for experiments.

Moneycontrol reports that Peak XV and Mettle Capital are set to co-invest about $20 million in the startup. The round was reportedly increased from an earlier $15 million plan, while Bessemer Venture Partners is no longer expected to participate.

Mettle Capital’s involvement is notable because it is a new fund founded in May 2026 by former Peak XV executives Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma. This would be Mettle Capital’s first reported investment.

Why these deals matter

Simplismart and Empirical Machines represent two different AI opportunities. Simplismart provides the technical foundation for businesses using AI. Empirical Machines is focused on using AI to solve hard scientific questions.

Their competitors are also different. Simplismart operates in a global market alongside AI infrastructure providers such as Together AI, Fireworks AI and cloud platforms offered by major technology companies. Empirical Machines may compete with research-focused AI startups building tools for chemistry, life sciences and materials discovery.