MAM
AutoVRse secures $2M funding led by Lumikai for enterprise VR solutions
Mumbai: AutoVRse, a VR/AR tech startup, today announced the successful closure of a $2 million funding round led by Lumikai. This marks a significant milestone in AutoVRse’s journey, having already delivered cutting-edge VR solutions to multiple Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders including Shell, Godrej, Bosch, Tata Motors, Ultratech Cements, Aditya Birla Group, and many others.
The funding will primarily be utilized to further enhance AutoVRse’s foundational enterprise product, VRseBuilder, “an end-to-end modular technology stack and SAAS platform to integrate VR into workflows of industries like manufacturing, construction, engineering, oil and gas, automotive, replacing ineffective manual instruction and/or expensive simulation techniques for purposes ranging from safety training to sales and collaborative remote work.”
270 million accidents occur in heavy industries, costing them $1.25 trillion globally. VrseBuilder is a one-stop, self-serve, modular, SAAS-style platform that empowers large organizations to effortlessly create, deploy, and manage VR training solutions and applications at scale, in real-time, across the world.
This funding will enable AutoVRse to augment its team with top-tier talent, and spearhead expansion efforts in the United States and expand its product suite. The company also plans to set up a B2B sales team in the US to drive qualified lead generation and facilitate market expansion.
The company also leverages their state-of-the-art, in-house game studio for cutting-edge research and development while building District M, the Multiverse Dance Festival – a social, multiplayer, rhythm VR game. The game’s demo was launched on the Oculus AppLab two years ago and will soon be launched on Meta and PlayStation. The gaming division works closely with the enterprise division to leverage innovations for enterprise product development.
AutoVRse co-founders Ashwin Jaishanker, and Adarsh Muthappa, enthusiastically shared their outlook for the company’s future, saying, “Virtual Reality (VR) wields transformative potential across diverse industries. Our enterprise solutions offer a world-class, ready-to-use, modular technology stack with SAAS-enabled deployment for purposes ranging from worker safety training to sales training and remote work design collaborations. An example of the real-world impact of our VR tech was our partnership with UltraTech Cements, where we deployed VR safety training modules across 51 plants in India and trained 50,000+ workers in VR—reducing factory incidents and saving lives. We leverage our in-house game studio to test, iterate, experiment and deliver immersive and cutting-edge innovative experiences for our enterprise clients. This cutting-edge research and cross-pollination of technology has also helped us create an immersive gaming experience with an original IP like District M. Our vision is to build a foundational VR-OS (VR operating system) for enterprises, alongside world-class, meaningful, social, and fun experiences for consumers.”
Speaking on the announcement, Lumikai founding general partner Salone Sehgal said, “AutoVRse’s technology and solutions for enterprises, compete with the global best. Their focus on innovation and providing scalable, VR-led solutions for very real problems facing heavy industries, coupled with their innovative, state-of-the-art gaming studio, is a powerful combination—paving their rise to becoming a world leader in the VR space. At Lumikai, we are super excited to be lead investors and partner with Ashwin, Adarsh, and the AutoVRse team to build a world-class, enduring AR/VR company.”
Pushing the limit of what is possible in the immersive media space and delivering consistently path-breaking deployments in the field of enterprise VR/AR for more than 7 years, AutoVRse, has evolved into a pioneer in the AR/VR landscape transforming various industries with their tech prowess. The company’s flagship product, VRseBuilder’s primary goal is to help organizations adopt VR at scale, easily. It consists of 4 components, namely:
Readymade VR Content Library: Safety and process training VR modules designed with a modular, VR-centric design philosophy
- VR-Native Learning Management System: Schedule sessions, assign modules, access performance reports, and observe evaluation metrics in real-time, offering unparalleled training flexibility
- Deployment Platform & Knowledge Repository: A secure web dashboard that helps IT and Security teams manage VR users, devices and content by seamlessly integrating with LMS and SSO systems, allowing users to upload videos and PDFs and manage the organization’s VR knowledge repository
- Unity SDK + Infinity Workshop: Rapidly prototype VR apps with a no-code editor and massive library of modular blocks (assets, templates and fully finished VR training modules)
Also participating in this round was angel investor Yash Kotak, Founder and CEO of Jumper.ai, who said “Jumping into AutoVRSe was a no-brainer. Right from the get-go with the founders and the team, I could feel the energy, the focus, and that unstoppable drive to conquer the VR scene. With its fundamentally strong tech, flawless execution, and sky-high market potential, investing was a total blast from day one.”
Additional prominent figures in the funding round include Rajat Monga, co-founder of TensorFlow and Inference.io and Viswanathan Krishnamurthi, ex-CIO/VP at Yahoo & Eaton.
While talking about this the Co-founder of TensorFlow and Inference.io, Rajat Monga, also added “AR/VR is where we are all headed, and with Oculus Quest (and now Apple Vision Pro), people think of consumer apps. I loved how Ashwin and the team understood the space and focused on enabling enterprises to bring their ideas to reality.”
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
