MUMBAI, Nov. 12 -- Venture capital investors are doubling down on Indian consumer artificial intelligence startups, betting that tailored applications for everyday tasks-from spoken English to personal finance-will persuade users to pay for AI.

The immediate challenge for these startups is no longer acquiring users, but retaining them in a price-sensitive market. Investment activity is accelerating across stages. Trading platform Sahi is seeking $40 million to $50 million at a valuation of $400 million to $500 million, while spoken-English app Supernova is in talks to raise $15 million to $20 million from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and Verlinvest, Mint reported earlier.

Several others have closed rounds this year. Credit and...