Equal AI Raises $30M to Screen Calls in India

Equal AI is trying to solve a problem that many people in India deal with every day: too many unwanted, unclear, or time-consuming phone calls. From spam and scams to delivery updates, job offers, and financial service pitches, users often receive calls that interrupt their day. Existing tools like Truecaller and the government’s Calling Name Presentation system can help identify who is calling, but Equal AI argues that knowing a caller’s name is not always enough. Its AI assistant is designed to answer calls on behalf of users, find out why someone is calling, and then summarize the reason in the app.

The company has now raised $30 million in Series B funding, led by Prosus Ventures and Tomales Bay Capital, with participation from Think Investments and Valiant Fund. Notable individual investors include PhonePe founder Sameer Nigam, Zubin Bharti Mittal from Airtel Family Office, Skyflow AI co-founder Anshu Sharma, Meta India and Southeast Asia Vice President Sandhya Devanathan, and CtrlS Datacenters chairman Sridhar Pinnapureddy. With this round, Equal AI has raised more than $42 million in total funding.

Founded in 2022 by Keshav Reddy, Equal AI began as a data-sharing company for financial services and still provides financial analysis data and Know Your Customer verification services for employers. Reddy, who comes from the family behind Indian conglomerate GVK, said the company always wanted to become more customer-facing. The call assistant became its first major consumer use case because many users receive repeated calls from financial services, recruiters, or insurance companies. For example, someone shopping for car insurance could receive around 20 calls in a week, making it difficult for a person to manage everything manually.

Equal AI’s Android app has already passed one million monthly active users and more than 300,000 daily active users since launching last year. The app screens unknown calls, displays the reason for the call, and gives users quick reply options such as asking a delivery person to leave a package near the door or give it to a neighbour. The AI reads the chosen message to the caller, and users can also type a custom response. The app records calls and provides recordings, transcripts, and summaries so users can review conversations later.

The technology behind Equal AI uses speech recognition, automatic speech recognition, speech generation models, and the company’s own orchestration layer. This is especially important in India, where people often speak in regional languages or mix multiple languages in the same sentence, known as code-mixing. Equal AI says it supports more than 10 languages, giving it a local advantage in a market where language and context matter. The company plans to expand beyond unknown call screening by allowing known-number screening, launching an iOS version, and introducing a paid subscription with more features.

Equal AI also wants its assistant to become more proactive over time. Future features could include sending a delivery person an address with the user’s consent or making outbound calls to book appointments. However, the company faces strong competition from Google, Apple, Truecaller, and U.S.-based Cloaked, all of which have call-screening tools or AI assistant features. Its funding round also has an unusual structure, split into three tranches with different valuations tied to performance targets. Even with these challenges, investors appear confident that call screening could become an important AI infrastructure layer in India. Equal AI’s biggest test now will be turning its fast-growing user base into a lasting business model while maintaining privacy, trust, and local relevance.

Works Cited

“Equal AI Raised $30M and Launched an AI Assistant That Answers Unknown Calls.” Mezha, 12 June 2026, mezha.net/eng/bukvy/995b5075_equal_ai_raised. 

“Equal AI Raises $30M Series B to Screen Calls so Indians Don’t Have To.” Dealroom.co, 12 June 2026, app.dealroom.co/news/note/equal-ai-raises-30m-series-b-to-screen-calls-so-indians-don-t-have-to. 

Mehta, Ivan. “Equal AI Raises $30M to Screen Calls so Indians Don’t Have To.” TechCrunch, 11 June 2026, techcrunch.com/2026/06/11/equal-ai-raises-30m-to-screen-calls-so-indians-dont-have-to. 

TechCrunch. “Equal AI App Screenshot.” TechCrunch, 11 June 2026, techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20242245.jpeg?resize=2048,1366. 

LinkedIn. “Equal AI.” LinkedIn, 2026, media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E12AQGOXp1zZlNJIg/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/B4EZzAR4UBHkAI-/0/1772752439223?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=Qrff26H_UFGzknxyNyS3e7iau6MCGEn7jl-ruE5uVgk.