Sarvam AI Raises $75 Million With Nvidia As Strategic Investor

Sarvam AI, a Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup, has become the first Indian company to bring on global chipmaker Nvidia as a strategic investor. The company has closed a $75 million extension of its Series B funding round led by Nvidia.

The extension takes Sarvam AI's total Series B haul past its earlier $234 million round, which was led by HCL Technologies and propelled the company to unicorn status. According to a filing with the Registrar of Companies, Sarvam AI's board approved a special resolution to issue 20,244 Series B preference shares and seven equity shares at an issue price of Rs. 3,44,570 each, raising close to Rs. 698 crore.

Nvidia is the largest investor in the extension, putting in roughly Rs. 238 crore, or about $25 million dollars, for a 1.66 percent stake in the company. Other investors, including Glade Brook Capital, Gaja Capital, and Indigo Ventures, also participated in the round.

With the fresh capital, Sarvam AI's post money valuation is estimated at around Rs. 14,342 crore, or approximately 1.51 billion dollars, taking its total funding raised to nearly 349 million dollars. HCL Technologies, the lead investor in the previous round, will see its stake reduced to 9.95 percent following the dilution, while the company's founders continue to hold a combined majority interest of over 38 percent, retaining strategic control.

Sarvam AI's infrastructure runs on Nvidia hardware, including access to the company's Blackwell class graphics processing units, making the equity investment as much a commercial bet as a strategic one for the chipmaker. The company was founded in August 2023 by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, both of whom previously worked on India's digital public infrastructure projects.

Sarvam AI builds large language models, AI inference infrastructure and enterprise AI products designed for Indian languages and local use cases. It was selected earlier this year by the central government to develop India's sovereign foundation AI model under the IndiaAI Mission.

The company plans to use the new capital to scale foundation model training and compute capacity, and to expand its enterprise AI products. With this investment, Sarvam AI aims to further strengthen its position in the Indian AI market and accelerate its growth trajectory.

The investment by Nvidia is a significant milestone for Sarvam AI and a testament to the company's potential in the AI space. It also highlights the growing importance of India in the global AI landscape. As the Indian government continues to push for the development of AI and related technologies, companies like Sarvam AI are well-positioned to play a key role in this effort.

In the coming years, Sarvam AI is likely to play a significant role in shaping the Indian AI ecosystem. With its strong focus on developing AI products and solutions for Indian languages and local use cases, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for AI in the country.

Overall, the investment by Nvidia in Sarvam AI is a significant development for the Indian AI industry and highlights the growing interest of global companies in the Indian startup ecosystem. It is likely to have a positive impact on the growth and development of the Indian AI industry in the coming years.

The deal is also expected to have a positive impact on the Indian economy, as it will help to create new job opportunities and stimulate innovation in the AI space. As the Indian government continues to push for the development of AI and related technologies, deals like this are likely to become more common in the future.

In conclusion, the investment by Nvidia in Sarvam AI is a significant milestone for the Indian AI industry and highlights the growing importance of India in the global AI landscape. It is likely to have a positive impact on the growth and development of the Indian AI industry in the coming years and will help to create new job opportunities and stimulate innovation in the AI space.