Rocket AI raises $15M to generate McKinsey-style reports at a fraction of consulting costs

AI startup Rocket offers vibe McKinsey-style reports at a fraction of the cost | TechCrunch

Indian startup Rocket is betting that the next big opportunity is the part before the vibe coding: having AI help people decide what to build. It has launched a platform that produces consulting-style product strategies. The startup, based in Surat, India, on Tuesday launched its platform, Rocket 1.0, which connects research, product building, and competitive intelligence in a single workflow. The platform generates detailed product strategy documents -- including pricing, unit economics, and go-to-market recommendations. As AI-powered coding tools proliferate -- from platforms like Cursor, Replit, and Lovable to features such as Claude Code and Codex -- writing code has become significantly easier and faster. "Everyone can generate the code now... it has become a commodity. But what to build is something which everyone is missing," said Rocket co-founder and CEO Vishal Virani (pictured above), adding that "running a business and just building a codebase are two different things." TechCrunch briefly tested Rocket's platform ahead of its launch and found that it generated product requirement documents in PDF format from simple prompts. These documents resemble consulting-style reports rather than vibe coding tools or chatbots, which largely focus on features and execution. However, some of the analysis appeared to be synthesized from existing data -- combining known pricing models, user behavior patterns, and competitive insights -- rather than based on independently verifiable information. This suggests users may still need to validate outputs before making business decisions. Virani said the platform can offer human support when users encounter issues. The product can also track competitors, including changes to their websites and traffic trends. Rocket draws on more than 1,000 data sources for its analysis, including Meta's ad libraries, Similarweb's API, and its own crawlers, Virani said. Rocket's subscription plans range from $25 per month for building applications to $250 for strategy and research capabilities, and up to $350 for the full platform, including competitive intelligence. The $250 plan can generate two to three "McKinsey-grade" research reports alongside product builds, Virani told TechCrunch, positioning its higher-tier offerings as a lower-cost alternative to traditional consulting, which often costs thousands of dollars for similar strategy work. Rocket raised a $15 million seed round in September from Accel, Salesforce Ventures, and Together Fund. Since then, the startup says it has grown from 400,000 to over 1.5 million users across 180 countries. It also reported an annualized average revenue per user in the ~$4,000 range, though it did not disclose detailed paying customer numbers. The startup said it operates at gross margins of over 50%, with 20-30% of its customers being small- and medium-sized businesses. Rocket has a team of 57 employees and is headquartered in Surat, with operations in Palo Alto.

Startup News Today: Rocket AI Raises $15M, Launches Platform to Reinvent Strategic Planning

Indian startup Rocket aims to capitalize on a new opportunity by utilizing vibe coding. This AI company will explore vibe coding, an AI model that helps businesses identify exactly what they should build. The company has launched a platform with product-strategy-oriented and consultative approaches designed to improve decision-making and effective planning Rocket launched Rocket 1.0, featuring a tool that combines research, product development, and competitive intelligence in a single workflow. The platform will generate detailed product-strategy documents. These documents will include every business detail such as pricing, go-to-market recommendations and unit economics. Please note that the is based in Surat, India. Rocket's headquarters are in Surat, the operational footprint is in Palo Alto, and the team has over fifty employees. "Now anyone can generate code; it has become a commodity. But what to build is what everyone lacks. Running a business and simply building a codebase are two different things," Vishal Virani, co-founder and CEO, Rocket, explained while speaking about the new venture.