The NxtQuantum founder, who previously helped build Realme in China, is applying that experience to grow India’s own globally competitive smartphone player
Madhav Sheth, who spent over two decades in the mobile industry building brands like Realme within the Chinese ecosystem, is now channelling that experience into AI+, a smartphone brand under his company NxtQuantum Shift Technology. Speaking to PTI, Sheth said the bootstrapped, 100% Indian company launched its first smartphone in September 2025 and generated ₹ 965 crore in revenue in its first fiscal year. He expects that figure to grow multifold to over ₹ 7,500 crore in the current fiscal year — the company’s first full year of operations.
Building an Indian Supply Chain
Sheth, who has also worked at Oppo and Honor, said India’s smartphone component ecosystem has long been dominated by foreign brands, making local development difficult. He argued that a genuinely Indian brand needs to rely on a domestic supply chain rather than depending solely on foreign manufacturing, which would help grow the broader ecosystem. He noted that in a $40-50 billion market, no Indian smartphone brand currently competes globally.
Rapid Early Growth
According to Sheth, the company closed more than ₹ 965 crore in revenue within its first six months, followed by over ₹ 1,650 crore in the first quarter of this year. He expects to cross ₹ 6,000 crore before Diwali and surpass ₹ 7,500 crore by year-end, given that the third quarter is typically the strongest for smartphone sales.
Government Support and R&D Investment
Sheth welcomed the government’s proposal to promote indigenous mobile phone manufacturers under the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme. He felt that providing 3 percent R&D support to Indian manufacturers was a good initiative. AI+ has already invested ₹ 60 crore in developing software, its workforce and servers here to keep data within the country. The company expects to scale up its R&D workforce to more than 150, including 30 expatriates who will be trained in hardware, software and testing.”
Early Traction
The company has launched five smartphone models priced between ₹ 10,000 and ₹ 30,000, selling more than 20 lakh units since inception — which Sheth called the fastest such milestone in Indian smartphone history.
