India’s homegrown artificial intelligence startup Sarvam AI has raised $234 million in an ongoing funding round led by software services company HCLTech, according to a press release. Bessemer Venture Partners and existing investors Khosla Ventures and Peak XV Partners also participated in the round, which values Sarvam at $1.5 billion.

HCLTech will make a strategic investment of $150 million as part of the round, which is expected to close at $300 million. Sarvam was last valued at $110 million in 2023, when it raised capital from Peak XV, Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed.

ET had reported in April that investors including US-based growth equity firm Glade Brook Capital, chipmaker Nvidia and Sarvam’s existing backer Lightspeed were also expected to join the funding round.


Sarvam’s fundraising comes close on the heels of the US export ban on Anthropic, which has triggered calls to accelerate India’s sovereign AI ambitions. The Bengaluru-based startup is among a handful of Indian ventures building foundational AI models domestically. In February, it unveiled its first homegrown foundation models — Sarvam-30B and Sarvam-105B — supporting 22 Indian languages.

“We are clear that research-led innovation to create AI that works at India's scale is a very large opportunity. That means models that understand our voices, read our documents, and serve intelligence at a cost every enterprise and government can afford. Building on this template, we are innovating on a full-stack offering for enterprises to own and operate their own sovereign AI,” Pratyush Kumar, cofounder of Sarvam, said in a statement.

Founded in 2023 by Kumar and Vivek Raghavan, Sarvam is positioning itself as an AI platform for sovereign use cases, focused on building India-first large language models (LLMs) and infrastructure tailored to local languages and data.

C Vijayakumar, CEO & managing director of HCLTech, said, “By bringing together Sarvam's research in AI models with HCLTech’s global presence, we are creating a differentiated full-stack AI platform for enterprises and governments, strengthening our ability to deliver secure, scalable, and responsible AI solutions.”

According to a regulatory filing by HCLTech, Sarvam recorded revenue of Rs 45 crore during fiscal 2026. Its customers include enterprises such as SBI Life, Life Insurance Corporation, IDFC First Bank, Tata Capital and Cred.