Enterprise-focused GenAI startup subtl.ai has officially ceased operations after struggling to secure fresh funding, despite raising $200K (₹1.8 Cr) from angel investors in earlier rounds. The Bengaluru-based startup’s website domain has expired, confirming its closure.
Cofounder and CEO Vishnu Ramesh announced the shutdown on July 3 via a LinkedIn post, citing the inability to convert investor interest into committed capital.
“I had made decisions assuming that funding budgets would come in based on conversations I had with a few good funds out of Hyderabad. This became a big reality check for me. There are investors like G Vamshi, Raju Sailesh Sigatapu, Mohit Gulati, Gowri Shankar Nagarajan, that I have so much respect for, but a lot of VCs in our ecosystem just don’t care for founder time,” Ramesh wrote.
Founded in 2019 by Ramesh and IIIT Hyderabad professor Manish Shrivastava, subtl.ai aimed to create a “Private Google” for enterprises. Its GenAI-powered knowledge agents were designed to optimize information discovery and automate internal tasks like form filling, ticket resolution, and knowledge retrieval.
In 2021, Sarath Chandra was elevated as the startup’s third cofounder. He remained with the company until late 2023 and is now a senior product manager at Shift Logistics.
Despite ambitions to raise $1 million in seed funding and target $500K in revenue for FY25, subtl.ai only managed to generate a total revenue of ₹55 lakh since inception.
Ramesh, a BITS Pilani alumnus, now plans to launch a new venture in vertical AI solutions, this time stepping into the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
The shutdown is surprising given the broader investor interest in AI. According to Inc42’s investor survey, 57% of 80+ investors expressed intent to back early-stage AI startups in the second half of 2025. Subtl.ai’s closure highlights that despite the hype, early-stage fundraising remains highly competitive — and uncertain — in India’s GenAI startup ecosystem.
