For 20 years, Anil Advani, a Palo Alto-based lawyer, has worked on the niche project of helping Indian startups incorporate in the United States. Suddenly, though, Advani’s field is a lot less niche: Every week, a dozen Indian founders seek his counsel on moving to the US, more than triple the rate from two years ago. They’re coming for the AI opportunity and all they can learn about the US market.
Hot on their heels are Indian VCs. Multiple firms have opened offices in the Bay Area and hired executives just in the last few months. Over the past two years, Indian VCs have made over a hundred investments in US-based companies, a Newcomer calculation shows — a number that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.