Rocket targets the 'what to build' gap in AI coding tools

On Tuesday, Indian startup Rocket launched its platform, Rocket 1.0, which uses artificial intelligence to generate consulting-style product strategy documents and product requirement documents in PDF format from simple prompts. The launch comes as AI-powered coding tools—often referred to as “vibe coding” tools, such as Cursor, Replit, and Lovable, or features like Claude Code and Codex—have made writing code significantly easier and faster. Rocket aims to address the phase before coding begins. “Everyone can generate the code now … it has become a commodity. But what to build is something which everyone is missing,” said Vishal Virani, co-founder and CEO of Rocket, who noted that running a business and simply building a codebase are two distinct tasks.

To generate its analyses, Rocket draws on more than 1,000 data sources, including Meta’s ad libraries, Similarweb’s API, and its own web crawlers, according to Virani. The platform is designed to track competitors, website changes, traffic trends, and pricing models. However, some of the analysis appeared to be synthesized from existing data rather than based on independently verifiable information, suggesting that users may still need to validate the outputs.

Rocket raised a $15 million seed round in September from investors including Accel, Salesforce Ventures, and Together Fund. The company offers three monthly subscription tiers:

• $25 per month for building applications
• $250 per month for strategy and research capabilities
• Up to $350 per month for the full platform, including competitive intelligence

Since its seed round, Rocket reports that its user base has grown from 400,000 to over 1.5 million users across 180 countries.

Headquartered in Surat, India, with operations in Palo Alto, the company has 57 employees. Rocket reports an annualized average revenue per user in the $4,000 range, with gross margins of over 50%. Small- and medium-sized businesses make up 20% to 30% of its customers. These figures reflect the startup’s unit economics—defined as the direct revenues and costs associated with a business model—as it attempts to scale its automated consulting services.

Why it matters

The startup is positioning its AI-powered platform as a lower-cost alternative to traditional consulting by generating product strategy documents, aiming to solve the problem of deciding what to build rather than just how to code.