How Tagbin turned an early bet on AR, VR, and AI into a Rs 160 Cr government-tech powerhouse

In 2013, three IIT Roorkee graduates, Saurav Bhaik, Ankit Sinha, and Abhishek Negi, founded Tagbinin Gurugram, betting early on emerging technologies such as AR, VR, and IoT, long before they entered mainstream vocabulary.

The trio spotted the potential on Gartner’s hype curve and set out to use these technologies for immersive experiences and training solutions for businesses. 

But the timing was far from ideal. 

The technologies were still evolving, and the market wasn’t ready for them. Early VR headsets were bulky, uncomfortable, and often left users with headaches after a few minutes. 

”Businesses liked the idea of new tech, but nobody wanted to go first,” recalls Bhaik. 

Despite the slow adoption, the founders stayed the course, convinced that the ecosystem would eventually catch up.

Their conviction paid off five years later when Tagbin won a project to design and build Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, a museum unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2022. The museum features 7.5 hours of immersive content chronicling 75 years of India’s history. 

“It validated our early bet on AI and immersive technology. We were on the right track,” says Bhaik. 

Today, Tagbin operates at the intersection of AI and immersive technology, building AI-powered platforms that allow governments to make data-driven decisions, alongside experiential spaces powered by AR, VR, and holograms for museums, exhibitions, and public installations.

AI solutions for smarter decisions

Tagbin’s flagship AI offering is the Strategy Lab, first built for NITI Aayog in 2021. The platform pulls data from multiple government sources and connects disparate datasets to surface patterns that humans might miss. It helps identify duplicate spending across departments, predict potential problems, and generate policy insights. The system is currently deployed in Bihar, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra.

For private enterprises, Tagbin offers BoardRoom AI, which integrates tools like Slack, Asana, and Tally, along with industry reports. Executives can ask questions in plain language and get strategic insights based on actual business data. The startup has also launched Workly, a workplace productivity platform that combines task management and team communication with AI agents that can transcribe meetings and automatically assign tasks.

Another offering is Tagbin’s Predictive Policing Solution, which aggregates data from complaint management systems, FIRs, emails, social media, and criminal records. The platform suggests efficient patrol routes, predicts crime-prone areas, and helps investigators identify similar cases to narrow down suspects in serious crimes such as murder. The system is currently used by the Delhi Police and the Goa Police. 

Tagbin is also experimenting with AI-led storytelling through its Digital Humans project, which brings historical figures to life using interactive, AI-powered holograms that students can converse with in real time. “We are proposing this to education departments so students can interact with personalities like Abdul Kalam and Rajendra Prasad in schools,” Bhaik explains. 

The company has also built G.I.T.A., a machine learning model trained on the Bhagavad Gita that answers questions in the voice of lyricist Manoj Muntashir.

Alongside its AI platforms, the startup’s creative technology unit builds immersive, experiential spaces using AR, VR, holograms, and other immersive technologies. 

The team designs experiences for museums, cultural institutions, government outreach programmes, and corporate showrooms, ranging from the Teleportation Bus, a VR-based experience, to projection mapping shows and interactive installations.

The tech powering Tagbin 

Tagbin builds custom AI models for government use cases. Its BoardRoom AI platform pulls data from databases, spreadsheets, and financial systems into unified dashboards, enabling officials to ask questions in plain language and get instant, actionable answers.

For its Digital Humans project, Tagbin creates interactive AI holograms of figures like Maharishi Valmiki, Dr. BR Ambedkar, and Mahatma Gandhi. It trains models on their writings and speeches, then pairs voice cloning with holographic projection for real-time, lifelike interactions.

Tagbin's VR started in 2013 with Google Cardboard and two phones, moved to Oculus, and now uses Apple Vision Pro and Pico. These are lighter, last longer on battery, and let you see through them. It also creates shared VR spaces for group interactions.

Beyond AI and VR, Tagbin also uses sensors in museums, builds robots for exhibits, adds RFID/NFC systems, and makes holograms for indoors and outdoors.

Major projects 

In 2021, Tagbin built India's biggest outdoor hologram at India Gate. It was a temporary statue that stood in for King George V's while Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's real statue was being built. The setup handled wind and weather for six months, with no drilling on the heritage site.

That year, NITI Aayog's AI Strategy Lab noticed Tagbin. For the Rashtragaan campaign, it combined voices from 2.5 crore Indians into one national anthem, played at the Red Fort. For Har Ghar Tiranga, it processed 6 crore selfies in 15 days, using AI to fix blurry ones and spot bad content.

By 2024, Bihar's Strategy Room went further. This AI command centre checks 3,000+ policy docs and tracks schemes to the village level. Chanakya AI at its heart turns data into clear decisions.

How Tagbin makes money

Tagbin earns nearly 90% of its revenue from central ministries like culture, tourism, and home affairs, along with state governments, police departments, and education departments, largely through RFP-based contracts. Museum and experience centre projects typically range from Rs 10 crore to 200 crore and follow an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) model, with milestone-based payments and annual maintenance contracts of 10-15% for up to five years after completion. 

The startup’s AI solutions follow a different pricing model, combining a one-time development fee with annual licence fees. BoardRoom AI engagements range from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore, depending on the scope and complexity of deployment.  Bhaik says the company is aiming to rebalance its current 90:10 split between government and private contracts to 70:30 within the year.

The company is headquartered in Gurugram, and also has regional offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai, employing around 200 people. It has raised $10 million from investors including veteran investor Ramesh Damani, SageOne Flagship Growth OE Fund, and the Kurlon group. 

What's next?

Bhaik wants Tagbin to become “the Infosys of the AI age” by securing large-scale, nationwide digital infrastructure projects. One of the company’s focus areas is building a unified platform that allows citizens to access government services such as certificates, bills, and registrations through chatbots or WhatsApp, instead of navigating multiple government portals. Tagbin has also been exploring opportunities in land registry privatisation, modelled on the Passport Seva Kendra framework.  

The company is also looking to deepen its presence in education and skilling, using VR and AR technologies in schools and government training programmes.

Tagbin has been profitable for seven consecutive years, while its revenue has nearly doubled year on year. Its current annual revenue is Rs 160 crore.

The company is in the final stages of acquiring two firms in the GCC region and a Delhi-based VR-focused company.