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

Indian startup Rocket is betting that the next big opportunity is in the pre-coding part of the vibe: having AI help people decide what to build. Introduce a platform that generates consulting-style product strategies.

The startup, based in Surat, India, on Tuesday launched its platform, Rocket 1.0, which connects research, product development, 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 like Claude Code and Codex — writing code has become much easier and faster. “Everyone can generate code now … it’s a commodity. But what needs to be built is something that not everyone has,” said Rocket founder and CEO Vishal Virani (pictured above), adding that “running a business and building a codebase are two different things.”

TechCrunch briefly tested the Rocket platform before its launch and found that it generated the required product documentation in PDF format from a simple notification. These documents are more like consulting-style reports than vibe coding tools or chatbots, focusing more on features and usability.

However, some analyzes appeared to be compiled from existing data – including known pricing models, user behavior patterns, and competitive insights – rather than based on independently verifiable information. This suggests that users may still need to verify output before making business decisions. Virani said the platform can provide human support when users encounter problems.

The brand can also track competitors, including changes to their websites and trends. Rocket pulls from more than 1,000 data sources for analysis, including Meta ad libraries, Similarweb’s API, and its crawlers, Virani said.

Rocket’s subscription plans range from $25 per month for building applications to $250 for strategy and research skills, and up to $350 for the full platform, including competitive intelligence.

The $250 system can produce two or three “McKinsey-grade” research reports alongside product development, Virani told TechCrunch, pitching its high-end offerings as a cost-effective alternative to traditional consulting, which often costs thousands of dollars for similar strategic work.

Rocket raised $15 million in seed funding in September from Accel, Salesforce Ventures, and Together Fund. Since then, the startup says it has grown from 400,000 to more than 1.5 million users in 180 countries. It also reported average annual revenue per user in the range of ~$4,000, although it did not reveal detailed numbers for its paying customers. The startup said it operates at a gross margin of over 50%, with 20-30% of its customers being small and medium enterprises.

Rocket has a team of 57 employees and is headquartered in Surat, with operations in Palo Alto.