Gradium, a Paris-based voice AI startup spun out of French AI lab Kyutai, has reopened its seed round to new investors including Nvidia, bringing the total to $100 million. The company will use the cash to open a Bay Area office and compete for talent at the heart of the global AI ecosystem.
The startup originally launched from stealth in December with $70 million from FirstMark Capital, Eurazeo, DST Global Partners, Eric Schmidt, and French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel. Gradium was co-founded by Neil Zeghidour, a researcher who previously worked at Google Brain, DeepMind, and Facebook.
Gradium develops audio models delivering voice at scale with ultra-low latency, eliminating the awkward pauses common in AI agent conversations. Since its December launch, the company has landed major customers including French auto manufacturer Renault.
The $100 million seed round reflects intense investor demand for voice AI, with the company facing competition from ElevenLabs, valued at $11 billion in February.
