Krutrim AI, an artificial intelligence startup founded by serial entrepreneur and Ola Electric Co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, has achieved unicorn status by securing an impressive $50 million in funding, with Matrix Partners India among the notable investors.
This milestone comes just a month after Krutrim introduced a significant language model, marking itself as the first Indian AI startup to reach a billion-dollar valuation.
The company has disclosed plans to diversify beyond language models, entering the realm of data center development. The ambitious long-term vision includes creating servers and supercomputers dedicated to meeting the evolving needs of the AI ecosystem.
The global race to build large language models in various Indian languages, referred to as Indic LLMs (Large Language Model), has intensified among Indian startups and academic groups. This surge follows the unveiling of OpenAI’s ChatGPT over a year ago, with a slew of LLMs hitting the market.
As countries worldwide, including India, actively pursue the development of indigenous AI systems, efforts aim to reduce dependence on technology from major players like the US and China.
In Europe, substantial investments are channelled towards Mistral AI in France, valued at $2 billion since its establishment last year. The United Arab Emirates is also making strides with its Falcon model, supported by an Abu Dhabi government research institute.
With a population of 1.4 billion, India aims to construct smaller, cost-efficient AI systems. Sarvam, a generative AI startup, recently launched OpenHathi, its first open-source Hindi LLM, on the heels of a successful funding round that raised $41 million from investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and billionaire Vinod Khosla.
Founder Bhavish Aggarwal emphasises the critical need for India to independently develop its AI capabilities. “India has to build its own AI,” Aggarwal stated. “We are fully committed to building the country’s first complete AI computing stack.”
