HCLTech may invest $150mn in Sarvam AI’s upcoming massive funding round.
Sarvam AI’s valuation could touch $1.5bn amid IndiaAI Mission momentum.
Startup develops indigenous AI models supporting all 22 official Indian languages nationwide.
IT major HCLTech is likely to invest $150mn and lead a $300mn funding round in Sarvam AI, the foundational models upstart, people familiar with the developments told Moneycontrol.
Moneycontrol further revealed that HCLTech will invest around $150mn in Sarvam AI, Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) will put in another $50mn as part of the deal. It revealed that the remaining $100mn will come jointly from Nvidia, Prosperity7, Activate Glade Brook and others, including existing backers.
1 May 2026
Get the latest issue of Outlook Business
Sarvam AI is backed by investors such as Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, Peak XV Partners and others which are expected to participate in the round on a pro rata basis, per sources. The round, which values Sarvam at $1.5bn post-money, a 7X increase from 2023, is expected to close in coming weeks.
Another Moneycontrol report dated March 24 mentioned that Sarvam AI has started conversations with HCLTech, NVIDIA, Accel and others to raise $250mn in a fresh round of funding, which will be among the biggest for an Indian AI startup in recent years.
In a report published on April 1, Moneycontrol reported that Accel has passed and Bessemer Venture Partners is actively engaging with the company to close a round of funding. BVP’s US Partner, Sameer Dholakia, was leading the discussions, the report added.
India's Sovereign AI Push
This infusion marks a watershed moment for domestic ambitions, positioning the start-up as a heavyweight capable of rivaling global tech giants.
According to The Economic Times and Outlook Business, the deal aligns with the IndiaAI Mission, which has recently facilitated the company's access to high-performance Nvidia H100 GPUs via Yotta Data Services. By developing indigenous foundational models like the Sarvam-105B, which utilises a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture for cost-efficiency, the firm is addressing critical linguistic gaps across all 22 official Indian languages.
Analysts at Tracxn and Analytics Insight suggest this strategic alignment not only secures essential capital but also integrates local intelligence into broader IT solutions. This surge underscores a record-breaking Q1 2026, where Indian AI startups raised approximately $3.94bn, signaling a massive pivot toward high-stakes infrastructure and sovereign technology.
