Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 9
Gradium Raises $100 Million Seed With Nvidia Backing as It Expands to Bay Area
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 9

Gradium Raises $100 Million Seed With Nvidia Backing as It Expands to Bay Area

1 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 9

Summary

  • $100 million is now in Gradium’s seed round after the Paris-based voice AI startup reopened the financing to new investors including Nvidia.
  • The fresh capital will fund a Bay Area office, where Gradium aims to recruit talent closer to Anthropic, Google, Meta and OpenAI.
  • Gradium launched from stealth in December with $70 million and says it has already signed customers including Renault, suggesting early traction despite heavy competition.
  • The startup, spun out of French AI lab Kyutai, builds ultra-low-latency audio models for near-instant AI voice responses in a market that includes ElevenLabs and Google Gemini.

Insights

Can Gradium's move to San Francisco truly help it outpace rivals like ElevenLabs and Google in the fiercely competitive voice AI race?
How might Gradium's rapid US expansion affect Europe's ambitions to build a sovereign and globally competitive AI ecosystem?