Invention Engine Portfolio Start-Ups Raise $2.5Mn, Sonic Lamb & Cheerio Lead AI-Focused Cohort

Start-up accelerator Invention Engine on Tuesday announced that four of its portfolio companies: Sonic Lamb, Cheerio AI, Desible.ai and Magicroll have collectively raised about $2.5 million in fresh funding.

The cohort spans multiple segments including hardware, enterprise SaaS, voice AI and video infrastructure, delivering what the accelerator described as a 15x catalytic multiplier on its initial capital investment.

The development serves as a proof of concept for Invention Engine’s “Lab + Accelerator” model, which focuses on supporting a smaller number of high-potential startups with deeper operational engagement rather than backing a large volume of companies. Its ACE accelerator programme is positioning itself as an India-focused equivalent of Y Combinator for the AI era.

Sonic Lamb, the Indian deep-tech startup that gained visibility on Shark Tank India, has raised around $1 million to scale its India-designed headphones globally. The product is designed, engineered and manufactured in India, with its acoustic signature tested and tuned in Denmark. The company already serves customers in more than 40 countries. The new capital will be used to strengthen the consumer brand’s reach and advance its core technology and intellectual property, particularly for expansion into automotive and professional audio applications.

Cheerio AI has also secured roughly $1 million in funding for its no-code AI marketing automation platform. The company offers an AI-powered customer engagement and CLTV platform used by more than 150 enterprises across six industries. According to the company, its platform has helped generate over ₹500 crore in additional revenue for clients through retention automation. The new funding will be directed toward building multimodal AI capabilities and expanding teams across engineering, AI, enterprise sales and customer success to support global scaling.

Meanwhile, Desible.ai raised $250,000 to expand its enterprise-grade conversational infrastructure platform used across the BFSI sector. The company develops AI-powered voice agents designed to be multilingual and context-aware, enabling businesses to automate customer conversations across voice, WhatsApp, SMS and email while managing service, compliance and revenue workflows.

AI-powered video editing platform Magicroll raised $100,000 to accelerate product development and go-to-market initiatives. The platform converts raw content into short-form videos while preserving the creator’s voice and narrative. In addition to its commercial product, the startup has been selected by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to transform official news and government briefings into multilingual AI-generated videos and audio.

Varun Aggarwal said India is entering a “golden age of AI” and emphasised the importance of enabling homegrown startups to lead the next wave of innovation. He noted that the accelerator combines capital with deep operational support to help founders move from product definition to global market entry.

To support global expansion, particularly in the US, Invention Engine has also established a Global Customer Advisory Board comprising senior executives from companies such as Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Boston Consulting Group. The advisory network is designed to provide strategic guidance and open pathways to international markets for portfolio startups.

Co-founder Shailendra Nath Jha said the accelerator focuses on startups that have already built working products and begun acquiring customers but still face crucial strategic decisions that shape their long-term trajectory.