India’s homegrown AI startup Sarvam AI is close to raising between $300 million and $350 million in a new funding round, according to a Bloomberg report, as it seeks to position itself as a domestic challenger to global technology leaders.
The Bengaluru-based startup is expected to be valued at between $1.5 billion and $1.55 billion, with the round potentially closing as early as next week, the report said.
Investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners is likely to lead the round, with participation expected from Nvidia, Amazon and Prosperity7 Ventures.
The report comes amid growing efforts in India to build sovereign artificial AI and reduce reliance on models developed in the United States and China. The government has made AI a strategic priority under its IndiaAI Mission, a programme backed by an outlay of about Rs 10,372 crore.
Sarvam AI gained prominence earlier this year after showcasing its technology at AI Impact summit in New Delhi. At the event, it unveiled models designed to reflect India’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
The startup has developed large language models with 30 billion and 105 billion parameters, trained domestically and aimed at improving performance across Indian languages. Its systems are voice-first and support 22 Indian languages, targeting a market where many users do not primarily interact in English.
Co-founder Pratyush Kumar said at the February unveiling: “Today we show we can bring our own AI to a billion Indians.”
Founded in 2023 by Kumar and Vivek Raghavan, the company is also developing so-called “agentic” AI systems capable of carrying out tasks such as coding and scheduling with minimal human input, as it targets enterprise adoption in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.
The startup has received infrastructure support, including access to advanced computing systems such as NVIDIA H100 chips through Yotta Data Services, as part of broader efforts to accelerate India’s AI ecosystem.