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‘Bhujia vs. Bots’: Unacademy CEO Slams India’s Startup Focus Amid Global AI Surge In a comment that’s both biting and brutally honest, Unacademy and Airlearn CEO Gaurav Munjal
In a comment that’s both biting and brutally honest, Unacademy and Airlearn CEO Gaurav Munjal has stirred up a nationwide debate on India’s innovation trajectory. His recent LinkedIn post hit a nerve with entrepreneurs and tech watchers alike:
“$465B investment in AI globally. Less than $1B in India. We are busy building Bhujia companies while others are dominating in AI.”
The message is clear—and controversial: while the rest of the world doubles down on artificial intelligence, India’s startup scene is still chasing safe bets and snack brands.
But is Munjal right? And what does it say about the state of tech innovation in India?
Let’s break it down.
According to the 2025 Stanford AI Index, private venture capital funding in AI hit a record high in 2024:
Even when adding up India’s entire AI investment since 2013, the total stands at just $11.29 billion—less than what the U.S. put into AI in 2024 alone.
Munjal’s frustration is understandable. For a country known for its IT prowess and engineering talent, India’s AI funding story reads more like a footnote than a headline.
Munjal’s reference to “Bhujia companies” isn’t about snack brands per se—it’s about a broader trend of risk-averse entrepreneurship in India. While consumer goods, food startups, and D2C brands have attracted steady funding and strong growth, deep-tech sectors like AI have seen limited private investment.
And his comment didn’t go unnoticed. It quickly lit up social media, with reactions ranging from agreement to outrage.
The post triggered hundreds of comments—some lighthearted, others introspective, and a few indignant.
“If you look at our tech history, India’s boom was built on IT services, not product innovation. We became the world’s back office, not its innovation lab.”
— One LinkedIn user noted, reflecting on how legacy companies like Infosys, TCS, and Wipro shaped India’s tech identity.
“Yes, India is lagging in AI. But there’s no need to degrade other industries to acknowledge that.”
— Another user pointed out the importance of not diminishing the value of consumer businesses.
“Let’s just hope we get there by 2036!”
— A comment laced with humour, but tinged with concern.
Munjal’s critique touches a deeper nerve—India’s startup ecosystem has often prioritized low-risk, fast-scale businesses over complex, capital-intensive innovation. Categories like:
…have all flourished. Meanwhile, AI, semiconductors, biotech, and robotics remain underfunded and underrepresented.
To be fair, the Indian government is taking steps. In March 2024, it greenlit a Rs 10,372 crore budget for the India AI Mission, spanning five years. The mission aims to:
However, government capital alone can’t build an AI-first nation. Innovation needs bold private capital, risk-hungry founders, and long-term product visionaries—something India’s startup scene hasn’t nurtured at scale.
If India wants to move from Bhujia to breakthroughs, here’s what needs to change:
VCs need to back hard tech and deep-tech ventures with longer horizons and bigger vision—even if the returns take time.
More founders must break free from the “build-fast-scale-faster” mindset and take on the tougher problems in AI, quantum computing, and robotics.
India’s elite engineering institutions like IITs and IISc must partner more deeply with startups to push R&D that translates into scalable products.
Access to GPU compute, AI cloud services, and foundational model APIs needs to be democratized and made affordable.
Whether you found Gaurav Munjal’s “Bhujia” comment provocative or painful, one thing’s for sure—it’s started a conversation that India needed.
AI is the next internet, the next electricity, the next industrial revolution. If India wants to lead—not just follow—then we can’t afford to sit it out.
And maybe, just maybe, we need more founders to trade in their snack recipes for neural networks.
