Krutrim, the AI startup founded by Ola's co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, has successfully raised funding in a round that values the company at $1 billion. Making waves as the fastest unicorn emergence in India, Krutrim also proudly claims the title of being the country's first AI startup to achieve unicorn status.
Leading the charge in this remarkable feat is Matrix Partners India, a firm that has previously backed Aggarwal's other ventures, including ride-hailing giant Ola and electric vehicle startup Ola Electric. The $50 million raised in this "first round" is intended to propel Krutrim to new heights in the AI sector. TechCrunch had reported earlier that Aggarwal was in talks to secure this $50 million funding for his innovative AI venture.
Ola Founder's AI Startup, Krutrim, Emerges as India's First AI Unicorn
Krutrim, a term derived from Sanskrit meaning "artificial," was established just last year and has already set its sights on building a robust language model trained not only in English but also in various local Indian languages. The startup is gearing up to unveil a voice-enabled conversational AI assistant capable of understanding and speaking multiple Indian languages. The beta version of this chatbot is slated for release next month, followed by the rollout of APIs for developers and enterprises.
Expressing his excitement about Krutrim's accomplishments, Bhavish Aggarwal stated, "India has to build its own AI, and at Krutrim, we are fully committed towards building the country’s first complete AI computing stack." He emphasized the startup's dedication to fostering meaningful change in India for the global AI landscape.
This investment in Krutrim comes at a time when global investors are actively seeking opportunities in groundbreaking AI technologies. The belief is that advancements in AI will revolutionize various industries, and startups leading this innovation will yield substantial returns.
India, despite having one of the world's largest startup ecosystems, is yet to make a significant impact in the global AI race. While notable contenders like Reliance have partnered with Nvidia to develop large language models, Krutrim's emergence as a unicorn signifies a promising breakthrough for the Indian AI landscape.
Krutrim's ambitious plans include the development of in-house capabilities to manufacture chips optimized for AI computing, a move that aligns with Aggarwal's venture exploring chip development and design, as reported earlier by TechCrunch.
The challenges of training large language models are not lost on the industry, with OpenAI having raised over $11 billion to date and other players like Anthropic securing substantial investments from tech giants such as Google and Amazon. Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is reportedly in talks to raise up to $6 billion at an impressive valuation of around $20 billion.
As Krutrim takes center stage as India's first AI unicorn, the spotlight is on the startup to deliver innovative AI solutions and drive meaningful change not just within the country but on the global AI landscape.