AI content startup Flam raises $40M from QED Investors, Shah Rukh Khan, and others

AI content startup Flam has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding led by QED Investors. The other investors in the round include Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, Claypond Capital, Martin Chavez, Olivier Pomel, and Venky Harinarayan, along with existing investors RTP Global and Dovetail.

The Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based tech startup, which enables AI-powered interactive content, was founded in 2021 by BITS Pilani alumni Shourya Agarwal, Malhar Patil and Amit Gaiki. Flam plans to use the funding on R&D, expanding its product portfolio, and scaling enterprise sales.

"Flam is built on a simple observation. Content has moved in waves, from text to images to video, and every wave flowed one way, creator to viewer. We think interactive is the next default for the internet," said Shourya Agarwal, Founder of Flam.

He added, "The demand was always there. The technology wasn't. We have made interactivity effortless to build and deploy at enterprise scale."

Flam says it has signed more than 100 enterprise customers in six quarters, including Google, Reliance, and Hyundai. Enterprises use Flam’s AI platform for marketing, product visualisation, learning and development, entertainment, fan engagement, customer support, and sales.

The startup has three products. Flicks are interactive videos that switch person, product, or scene mid-playback, using a patented compression algorithm. Forge is an editing model that takes image references and changes only the specified element. Airboards offer high-fidelity 3D content on a camera interface, with touch, voice interactions, and haptic feedback. Flam says it has more than 15 patents.

According to Agarwal, Flam has been growing 70-80% quarter on quarter. He expects the company to maintain this momentum in the near future.

Flam began with an FMCG customer, and has now widened its reach across sectors. It recently ventured into the entertainment segment.

Nigel Morris, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at QED Investors, said, “Almost every frontier AI content company we see is optimising what already exists. Flam pointed at something else: how much of the content ecosystem is still untouched. That gap is bigger than most people think, and Flam is the first team we've seen with the infrastructure to go after it."