Sarvam AI raises $234 million at $1.5 billion valuation as India's newest AI unicorn amid US export controls

According to TechCrunch, Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI announced a $234 million Series B funding round led by HCLTech (investing $150 million for a 10.46% stake), valuing the company at $1.5 billion. The startup is developing sovereign AI capabilities including 30-billion and 105-billion parameter open source models and full-stack infrastructure spanning model development, inference, and enterprise applications. The round reflects government and corporate efforts to build independent AI capabilities amid concerns over access to advanced models and computing infrastructure during US export restrictions.