Jammu founder's AI startup Tilion raises $500,000 from Silicon Valley's Y Combinator

Arman Luthra, a 22-year-old software entrepreneur from Jammu, has secured $500,000 (roughly Rs 4.8 crore) from American accelerator Y Combinator for his artificial intelligence venture, Tilion.

The investment brings the San Francisco-based startup into Y Combinator’s Fall 2026 cohort. The Silicon Valley institution previously backed global platforms like Airbnb and Stripe, alongside prominent Indian unicorns including Razorpay, Meesho, and Zepto.

What Tilion builds

Tilion develops specialised browser infrastructure designed for autonomous AI agents. While software assistants are increasingly tasked with booking flights, buying supplies, or submitting digital forms, standard web browsers frequently block automated scripts or slow down execution. Tilion's browser engine, named Fortress, provides the underlying pipes that keep those automated workflows running smoothly.

The tool has already crossed 100,000 installations and serves more than 170 corporate clients. Tilion currently leads two independent benchmarking indices — ComputeSDK's Browser Lifecycle test and the BrowserArena latency leaderboard. In both rankings, it has outperformed Browserbase, an established US rival that secured $40 million in venture funding last year at a $300 million valuation.

Luthra, who completed his early schooling at GD Goenka Public School in Jammu before moving to the United States for higher studies, serves as Tilion’s chief executive, directing product and sales. He established the company alongside three college peers: Md Shahrier Islam Arham, who serves as chief technology officer, and AI researchers Kazi Fardinul Hoque and Abdul Basit Tonmoy. All four have published academic research in machine learning.

Luthra previously developed Scribia, an AI-powered study application that logged 5,000 installations within a fortnight of launch when he was 19. He later worked on public data management at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.

Global capital chases AI infrastructure

The funding for Tilion lands amid intense venture interest in artificial intelligence tools across both application and infrastructure layers. On the corporate software side, San Francisco startup Town announced a $108 million Series B round at a $1 billion valuation, backed by Menlo Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and First Round Capital. Town develops interconnected AI assistants called "Townies" to handle workplace collaboration.

For Indian tech founders, Tilion's acceptance into Y Combinator underscores the accelerating global integration of talent emerging from tier-two cities and regional hubs. With portfolio companies supported by Y Combinator holding a combined enterprise value of $1.3 trillion, the four-person founding team aims to build foundational browser systems that power the next wave of autonomous web software.