Emergent Appoints Manav Garg as Executive Chairman as AI Moves from Code to Business Operations
Veteran entrepreneur and investor Manav Garg, co-founder and managing partner of early-stage venture firm Together Fund, has joined AI startup Emergent as Executive Chairman, marking a return to an operational leadership role after several years in venture investing .
The move signals Emergent’s ambition to accelerate product development, enterprise adoption, and market expansion as the startup capitalises on the rise of “vibe coding”—a new approach where developers increasingly rely on AI tools to generate, iterate, and manage code through natural language prompts .
📊 From Investor to Operator: A Strategic Transition
Garg had been investing in Emergent since Together Fund first backed the company in September 2024, following up with participation in its $23 million Series A round in September 2025 and its $70 million Series B round in January 2026 . Together Fund has backed dozens of AI and SaaS startups, with portfolio companies including Composio, RapidClaims, and several emerging AI-native ventures .
Announcing the move in a LinkedIn post on June 4, Garg stated that he will continue supporting founders and portfolio companies at Together Fund alongside his new responsibilities at Emergent .
“Some platform shifts are too important to observe only from the sidelines. For me, that is what brought me closer to Emergent.”
— Manav Garg, Executive Chairman, Emergent
At the AI startup, Garg will work closely with co-founders Mukund Jha and Madhav Jha on strategy, scaling, partnerships, governance, and long-term building .
💡 “AI Is Moving Beyond Software Creation”
Garg’s transition reflects a growing conviction around how artificial intelligence is reshaping businesses beyond just accelerating coding.
“AI is moving beyond software creation and toward business operation.”
— Manav Garg
He believes that while the first wave of AI reshaped content creation and the current wave is focused on software development, the next phase will see AI become a core operating layer for businesses . This conviction—that AI will fundamentally change how companies operate rather than just how they build software—was a key factor behind his decision to step into an executive role .
Garg also highlighted that certain platform shifts are too important to observe only from the sidelines, explaining why he chose to move from venture investing back into company building . He added that Emergent’s focus on helping businesses operate differently, rather than simply helping developers build software faster, was a key factor behind his decision .
Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks founder and Together Fund co-founder, will also join Emergent’s board as Together Fund’s representative .
🚀 Emergent’s Explosive Growth: From Launch to $100M ARR
Emergent has become one of India’s fastest-growing AI startups, demonstrating remarkable traction:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Funding Raised | $100 million (within 7 months of launch) |
| Valuation (Post-Series B) | $300 million |
| Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) | $50 million (Jan 2026), **$100 million+ (Apr 2026)** |
| User Base | 5+ million users |
| Global Reach | 190+ countries |
| Team Size | ~70-80 employees (70 of them based in Bengaluru) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco (operational HQ), Bengaluru (engineering hub) |
The startup’s explosive growth is driven by its AI “vibe-coding” platform, which uses AI agents to help users design, build, test, and deploy full-stack web and mobile applications without writing code . Unlike competitors that stop at demos and prototypes, Emergent focuses on production-grade, monetisation-ready software .
“The hardest part is not building the technology anymore. It’s keeping up with how fast people want to build.”
— Mukund Jha, Co-founder & CEO, Emergent
📈 Key Milestones in Emergent’s Journey
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| July 2025 | Company launch |
| November 2024 | System topped SWE-bench (coding agent benchmark) |
| September 2024 | First Together Fund investment |
| September 2025 | $23 million Series A |
| January 2026 | $70 million Series B led by SoftBank & Khosla Ventures |
| April 2026 | Crossed $100 million ARR |
| June 2026 | Manav Garg joins as Executive Chairman |
🏆 Backing from Top-Tier Global Investors
Emergent’s Series B round was jointly led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Prosus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Together Fund, and Y Combinator . This marked SoftBank’s return to investing in India after nearly four years—its previous India investment was backing B2B commerce platform ElasticRun in February 2022 .
Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures, said: “Emergent is growing at a pace we rarely see because it is tapping into a segment that has never been served. When barriers to software creation fall this quickly, behaviour changes across industries, not just within the technology sector.”
Sarthak Misra, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, added: “Emergent is harnessing AI to unlock a massive wave of entrepreneurship by removing the technical and capital barriers that have historically limited who can build software.”
🔮 What This Means for India’s AI Ecosystem
Garg’s return to an operating role highlights the growing maturity of India’s AI startup ecosystem. As he noted, “The first wave of AI reshaped content creation, the current wave is about software development—but the next phase will see AI become a core operating layer for businesses” . This shift represents a massive opportunity for Indian startups building enterprise AI solutions.
With Garg’s leadership and Emergent’s rapid growth trajectory—hitting $100 million ARR in just eight months—the company is positioning itself to become a key player in India’s AI innovation economy, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and enterprise-scale solutions
