Voice AI in India is hard. Wispr Flow is betting on it anyway.

In India, the use of voice notes, voice search, and multilingual messaging is widespread among internet users. However, transforming these habits into a scalable AI business is challenging due to linguistic diversity, mixed-language communication, and inconsistent monetization. Wispr Flow is taking on this challenge, seeing potential in the opportunity.

Based in the Bay Area, Wispr Flow develops AI-powered voice input software and has identified India as its fastest-growing market, despite the country’s fragmented voice-based AI product landscape. This growth has prompted the startup to aggressively target Indian users, starting with Hinglish—a mix of Hindi and English—widely spoken in India. The company plans to offer broader multilingual voice support, increase local hiring, and eventually reduce prices to reach beyond white-collar users and into Indian homes.

Previously, voice technology in India, from digital assistants to WhatsApp voice notes, centered on convenience. Now, AI startups like Wispr Flow are aiming to extend these habits into a comprehensive computing layer through generative AI.

To enhance its relevance in India, Wispr Flow began beta testing a Hinglish voice model earlier this year and launched on Android—India’s leading mobile operating system—after initially launching on Mac and Windows and planning to expand to iOS in 2025.

Co-founder and CEO Tanay Kothari shared with JS that the startup initially attracted white-collar professionals such as managers and engineers in India. However, it is now observing broader usage among students and older users, often introduced by younger family members.

According to Kothari, India is Wispr Flow’s second-largest market after the U.S. in terms of users and revenue, with growth accelerating after the company’s focused push in the region. The introduction of Hinglish support has spurred faster growth, capitalizing on the common practice of mixing Hindi and English in daily conversations, as users shifted from work-related to personal communication.

“The biggest thing is people are starting to use it more in personal apps,” Kothari noted, referencing messaging platforms like WhatsApp and social media apps where users often switch languages while speaking.

Kothari reported that Wispr Flow was experiencing 60% month-over-month growth in India earlier this year, which surged to around 100% following a recent launch campaign. Last month, the startup initiated a wider marketing effort in India, including a launch video from Kothari and offline promotions in Bengaluru to introduce the product to more mainstream users.

Kothari also disclosed plans to enhance multilingual voice support over the next year, enabling users to switch between English and other Indian languages beyond Hindi. In December, Wispr Flow introduced pricing specific to India at ₹320 (approximately $3.4) per month for annual plans, significantly lower than its global standard of $12 monthly.

The company aims to reduce costs further—possibly to ₹10–20 (around 10–20 cents) per month—as it seeks to expand beyond white-collar and urban demographics.

“I want every single person in the country to be able to use Wispr Flow, and that’s what we’re really building for,” Kothari stated. “That’s going to happen slowly and steadily.”

Earlier in the year, Wispr Flow appointed Nimisha Mehta to lead its India operations as part of its strategy to strengthen its local presence. Kothari mentioned plans to expand the team to about 30 employees in India within the next year, focusing on consumer growth, partnerships, and enterprise teams in addition to existing engineering and support functions. The startup currently employs around 60 people globally.

India’s voice AI challenge

Wispr Flow is not the only company viewing India as a crucial market for voice-based AI products. Other firms like ElevenLabs have recognized India as a key growth area for some time. Local startups such as Gnani.ai, Smallest AI, and Bolna have also drawn significant investor interest as voice AI tools gain more traction across consumer and business applications.

Despite rising interest from startups and investors, making voice AI a mainstream consumer product in India remains a challenge.

“India is the ultimate stress test for voice AI,” Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, told JS, highlighting that “linguistic, accent, and contextual friction” continue to hinder widespread adoption.

Data from Sensor Tower shared with JS indicates that Wispr Flow was downloaded over 2.5 million times globally between October 2025 and April 2026, with India accounting for 14% of these installs, making it the second-largest market by downloads after the U.S. However, India contributed only about 2% of the startup’s in-app purchase revenue during the same period. Globally, the startup remains primarily desktop-driven.

Kothari noted that Wispr Flow’s usage in India is split evenly between desktop and mobile, unlike the U.S., where there is an 80:20 desktop-to-mobile ratio.

He also mentioned that Wispr Flow enjoys strong user retention, with about 70% of users staying after 12 months both globally and in India. Additionally, the startup employs two full-time linguistics PhDs to refine its multilingual voice models and expand support for more Indian language combinations.