Sarvam AI, a startup specializing in generative AI solutions tailored for India's unique demands, has secured $41 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed, alongside Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures. This funding milestone stands as the largest early-stage investment garnered by an Indian AI startup.
Co-founded by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, Sarvam AI aims to craft a comprehensive framework for generative AI, encompassing pioneering research in custom AI model training and an enterprise-grade platform for creating and deploying these models. The company envisions that its all-encompassing approach will expedite the adoption of Gen AI in India. Enterprises, while recognizing the potential of Gen AI, struggle with its practical implementation within their operations.
The company's primary focus is to cater to India's specific needs by training AI models to accommodate diverse Indian languages and prioritize voice-based interfaces. Collaborating closely with local enterprises, Sarvam AI plans to create domain-specific AI models utilizing their data. Ultimately, the company aims to make a significant population-scale impact by integrating Gen AI into the successful India stack, with an emphasis on applications beneficial to the public good.
"I've personally witnessed the immense value of innovating at fundamental levels and implementing solutions on a large scale. India has showcased its unique ability to leverage technology, and with Gen AI, we have a chance to redefine how this technology can enrich people's lives," remarked Co-founder Vivek Raghavan.
"As investors in some of the most influential figures in Gen AI globally, we're thrilled by Sarvam AI's distinct approach in merging model innovation and application development to create widespread solutions for India. Lightspeed aims to be a close partner, leveraging our substantial resources and insights from our global platform," stated Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed.
Based in India, Sarvam AI aspires to contribute to the country's strategic objectives in this domain. Vinod Khosla, a trailblazer in AI investments in Silicon Valley, noted, "We see multiple nations making sovereign efforts to construct Gen AI models due to its strategic significance. Companies like Sarvam AI are crucial in developing profound expertise in building AI intended for India."
The growth of Gen AI is predicted to be exponential, with CEOs worldwide prioritizing substantial investments in this area, as revealed by the KPMG CEO Outlook 2023 survey. The survey highlights that 70 percent are heavily investing in generative AI for future competitiveness, with a majority (52 percent) anticipating returns within three to five years. Enhanced profitability emerged as the primary benefit of integrating generative AI within an organization (22 percent). According to recent research by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), from a pool of 1,000 respondents in India, 60.1 percent expressed optimism as one of their top two sentiments regarding AI's impact on work, while 72.8 percent believe that the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks.
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