Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath warned that 2027 could prove challenging for tech startups, advising entrepreneurs to secure funding while capital remains accessible.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2026, Kamath pointed to a massive disparity between global capital flowing into artificial intelligence and the revenue it generates.
Kamath estimated annual global investments in AI at approximately $1 trillion, compared to enterprise revenues of just $100 billion to $200 billion. This leaves a staggering $700 billion to $800 billion funding gap that investors must bridge each year.
Coupled with rising US Treasury yields driving up borrowing costs to 5–7%, Kamath cautioned that finding fresh capital to sustain current valuation levels could become significantly harder in the coming months.
Beyond AI, Kamath addressed global economic challenges, endorsing an inheritance tax as “probably not the worst idea” to tackle rising wealth inequality. He argued that passing wealth across generations without taxation incentivises capital hoarding while labour income is taxed heavily.
On India’s tech outlook, Kamath noted that while Indian firms lack the massive risk capital available in the US or China for frontier AI development, the country enjoys a 30% to 40% cost advantage in building data centres and megawatt infrastructure.
