Bengaluru-based Sarvam is about to extend its Series B with $74M, with Nvidia expected to lead the tranche. The sovereign AI startup, which builds models and infrastructure for Indian enterprises and government agencies, would take the capital on top of a $234M first close in June that valued it at $1.5B post-money.
Glade Brook Capital, Gaja Capital and Indigo Ventures are among the other expected participants, per Entrackr. After the extension, Nvidia would hold roughly 1.66% of Sarvam, HCLTech’s stake would dilute to about 9.95%, and founders would retain 38.44%.
Sarvam targets banking, insurance, government technology and defense, shipping models across language, speech, vision and document processing. Cofounder Pratyush Kumar frames the mission as research-led innovation for AI “that works at India’s scale,” tuned to local languages and context.
The chipmaker’s involvement extends beyond equity. HCLTech is investing $1.48B in an AI data center built in partnership with Sarvam, tying sovereign model development to enterprise infrastructure spending.
India’s AI market is drawing large checks from global chipmakers and cloud providers. A completed round would put Sarvam among the country’s best-funded AI startups, with investors betting locally trained models plus government adoption create a defensible position against US and Chinese incumbents.
