Enterprise AI startup QwikBuild has raised $2.3 million (approximately ₹22 crore) in a pre-seed funding round led by Japanese technology company Globalway, with participation from Blume Ventures, DeVC, Marsshot and angel investors Lalit Keshre, founder of Groww, and Ankit Nagori, CEO of Curefoods.
The startup plans to deploy the fresh capital primarily towards go-to-market (GTM) expansion, including establishing a team in the United States and expanding its presence across Southeast Asia.
Alongside the funding announcement, QwikBuild revealed plans to form a joint venture with Globalway to enter Japan’s enterprise software market. The venture is expected to become operational by the end of 2026 and will introduce QwikBuild’s platform to Globalway’s existing and prospective enterprise customers in Japan.
Founded in 2025 by former Slice executive Pradeep Ayyagari, QwikBuild develops enterprise software and AI agents designed to accelerate software development and deployment while helping businesses automate operational workflows.
QwikBuild Targets Enterprise Software Development
QwikBuild combines custom software development with AI-powered workflow automation, enabling businesses to build applications, replace legacy systems and develop customised software layers on top of existing enterprise platforms, including SAP and Salesforce.
Rather than focusing exclusively on automating individual tasks, the startup aims to help businesses codify the decisions that drive their operations. Its approach is designed to connect business requirements with software development and execution, allowing companies to build and modify applications as their needs evolve.
According to Ayyagari, the platform addresses a persistent challenge in enterprise technology adoption: translating business requirements into usable software without creating repeated dependencies on engineering teams.
“Tech has always been the enabler. But adoption of tech was always the hardest problem that I have seen,” Ayyagari said, drawing on his experience at Flipkart, Swiggy and Slice.
The company aims to narrow this gap by enabling business teams to build, test and refine applications with the assistance of AI agents.
From Business Decisions to AI-Driven Execution
QwikBuild’s approach centres on translating business logic into automated workflows rather than simply deploying AI tools to execute predefined tasks.
For example, a financial services company may need to determine which customers should be contacted, what filters should be applied to different customer segments and which scripts should be used for each group. While a specialised AI provider might automate the calling process, QwikBuild aims to help businesses codify the decisions that determine which customers to contact and how those interactions should be structured.
Once these decisions are translated into workflows, businesses can deploy voice agents and other tools to execute them through QwikBuild or alternative providers.
Ayyagari also highlighted the platform’s ability to support collaboration between business and technology teams. During a recent customer meeting, he said, a business team discussed modifications to an application, and the agent built the requested feature within minutes.
“The agent understood what the context was. The feature was immediately built within the next five minutes,” he said, adding, “Tech and business can work parallelly together.”
The company is betting that reducing the time and technical effort required to develop enterprise applications will encourage wider adoption of AI-driven software across businesses of different sizes.
Serving Enterprises Across Multiple Markets
QwikBuild claims to serve more than 100 enterprises across India, Southeast Asia, the United States and Dubai.
The company says approximately 10–12% of its customers are large enterprises, while around 30% are smaller businesses using the platform to deploy software without maintaining dedicated technology teams.
This customer mix reflects the startup’s attempt to address two distinct enterprise needs: helping larger organisations customise existing systems and enabling smaller businesses to access software development capabilities without building substantial in-house engineering functions.
QwikBuild’s planned expansion into the US and Southeast Asia is expected to strengthen its market reach, while the proposed joint venture with Globalway provides a route into Japan through the latter’s existing enterprise relationships.
Globalway Partnership Opens a Route into Japan
The planned joint venture marks a significant element of QwikBuild’s international expansion strategy. By partnering with Globalway, the startup aims to introduce its enterprise AI and software development capabilities to Japanese businesses through an established local technology company.
The venture is expected to begin operations by the end of 2026. Its initial commercial opportunity will involve Globalway’s existing and prospective enterprise customers, although the companies have not disclosed further details about the venture’s ownership structure, investment commitments or initial customer pipeline.
The partnership could give QwikBuild a channel to pursue enterprise customers in Japan while allowing it to expand beyond its existing markets.
Enterprise AI Funding Gains Momentum
QwikBuild’s funding comes amid growing investor interest in enterprise AI, automation and software platforms designed to improve business productivity.
Enterprise AI and automation startup RapidCanvas recently raised $29 million to support its expansion, reflecting continued investment in platforms seeking to bring AI into business operations.
Broader industry figures also point to increased funding activity. According to Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Indian AI startup funding surged 265% year-on-year to $438 million in the third quarter of 2026.
However, investment enthusiasm has also prompted concerns about valuations. An Inc42 survey of more than 85 institutional investors found that 63% saw some degree of froth in AI valuations, with approximately half expecting a correction within 18 months.
Despite these concerns, investors identified vertical AI as a leading potential driver of value creation over the next five years, followed by AI hardware and semiconductors, and AI-led IT and business services.
For QwikBuild, the opportunity lies in positioning AI as a layer that connects business decisions, software development and execution. Its next phase will depend on converting this proposition into repeatable enterprise deployments, expanding its international customer base and establishing a commercial presence in Japan.
With fresh capital and a planned partnership with Globalway, the startup is looking to strengthen its position in the enterprise software market as businesses increasingly explore ways to integrate AI into their core operations.
By : Vanshika Tayal
