India’s Emergent Crosses $100M ARR in Eight Months as Vibe-Coding Goes Mainstream
An Indian-founded “vibe-coding” startup is moving at a pace rarely seen in global SaaS. Emergent, a platform that allows users to build software using natural language and AI, says it has surpassed $100 million in annual run-rate revenue just eight months after launch, driven largely by small businesses and non-technical users worldwide.
The company announced that it doubled its annual run-rate revenue to $100 million in the past month alone, highlighting accelerating demand for AI-powered development tools that eliminate traditional coding barriers.
Millions of Users, Millions of Applications
Emergent reports that it now serves more than 6 million users across 190 countries, with approximately 150,000 paying customers. According to the startup, its community has already created over 7 million applications on the platform.
A significant portion of this growth comes from businesses outside the traditional tech ecosystem. Nearly 40% of Emergent’s users are small businesses, while around 70% have no prior coding experience.
People primarily use Emergent to replace manual or semi-digital workflows. These include processes previously managed through spreadsheets, email chains, or messaging apps, as well as building custom internal software, according to co-founder and CEO Mukund Jha.
Riding the Global Vibe-Coding Wave
Emergent’s momentum reflects a broader global surge in interest in “vibe-coding” — the use of AI models and agents to create software through natural language prompts. While developers increasingly adopt these tools to boost productivity, much of the current demand is coming from non-technical users who want to build production-ready applications without learning to code.
The company operates in an increasingly competitive space, going up against platforms such as Replit, Lovable, Rocket.new, Wabi, and Anything, among others.
Business Apps Dominate Use Cases
According to Jha, the majority of applications built on Emergent are business-focused.
“Most users on Emergent are building business-facing apps such as custom CRMs, ERPs, and inventory management and logistics tools,” Jha said.
He added that around 80% to 90% of new projects are focused on mobile applications, underscoring demand for tools that can be deployed quickly and accessed on the move.
Revenue Model and Improving Margins
Emergent generates income through a combination of subscriptions, usage-based pricing, and deployment and hosting fees. All three revenue streams are expanding, while profitability is also trending upward.
“Growth is accelerating,” Jha told TechCrunch. “As the models and platforms are improving, we’re seeing a lot more users getting to success.”
Early Steps Toward Enterprise Adoption
Although individual users and small businesses currently dominate the platform, Emergent has started testing an enterprise-focused offering. The company is running pilot programs with “a small number of customers” to better understand enterprise requirements related to security, compliance, and governance, Jha said.
Global Revenue Mix and India’s Rising Role
The U.S. and Europe together account for roughly 70% of Emergent’s total revenue, but India has emerged as the company’s next-largest and fastest-growing market. Localised pricing strategies have helped accelerate adoption among Indian small businesses.
Mobile App Launch Expands Accessibility
Emergent has also rolled out a mobile app for iOS and Android, enabling users to build applications and publish them directly to Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. While still in testing, users have already created more than 10,000 applications via the mobile app.
The app supports text-based prompts and voice interactions, allowing users to converse with AI agents to build apps, websites, or platforms. Users can also switch between mobile and desktop environments without losing progress.
Jha said the mobile release aligns with Emergent’s asynchronous, agent-based workflow, where users assign tasks to AI and review outcomes later. With many users already accessing the platform via mobile browsers — and most applications being mobile-first — a native app was the logical next step.
Backed by Major Investors
Headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Bengaluru, Emergent drew significant attention in January after raising $70 million in a funding round jointly led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Khosla Ventures. The round closed less than four months after a $23 million Series A, tripling the company’s valuation to $300 million.
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