Sarvam AI has joined India's unicorn club with a $1.5 billion valuation following a $234 million Series B funding round, while fintech firm Razorpay has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for a major IPO, reflecting strong investor interest in Indian tech startups.
- Sarvam AI valued at $1.5 billion after $234 million funding round
- Razorpay files confidential DRHP aiming to raise $600 million
- ONDC launches DigiDukaan to digitize B2B local kirana procurement
What happened
Sarvam AI has become India’s 130th unicorn after securing $234 million in its ongoing Series B funding round led by HCLTech, which acquired a 10.46% stake through a $150 million investment. Additional participation came from Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Peak XV Partners. The startup is targeting a $300 million round closure, marking a significant leap in India’s AI startup landscape.
Separately, Razorpay, the fintech giant offering payments and financial services, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI via a confidential pre-filing route. The company aims to raise around $600 million in its IPO, valuing it between $5 billion and $6 billion, a figure below its previous private valuation of $7.5 billion. This reflects a broader trend of Indian startups gearing up for public market listings.
Why it matters
Sarvam’s funding underscores a strategic push toward developing AI models tailored for Indian languages and enterprise use cases, which differentiates it from many global AI initiatives. With over 2 million daily conversations and 10 million API calls, the company is rapidly monetizing voice AI and expanding into new areas like smart glasses and a satellite data center project with Pixxel.
Razorpay’s IPO filing is a bellwether for the Indian fintech sector and wider startup ecosystem, signaling improving market conditions after some postponements by peers. Its broad suite of payment, lending, and banking solutions position it well to capitalize on accelerating digitization and financial inclusion in India.
What to watch next
Sarvam’s immediate focus will be closing its Series B at $300 million, enhancing its AI infrastructure, and addressing technical developer feedback on features like tooling and model integration. Its move to enable small business access through self-serve onboarding and free usage tiers could accelerate mass-market adoption.
Razorpay’s IPO roadmap, timing, and pricing dynamics will be closely watched by investors assessing the fintech landscape’s growth prospects. Additionally, other startups like Zepto, PhonePe, and Curefoods replicating or postponing listings will impact market sentiment.
Additional ecosystem developments include ONDC’s DigiDukaan platform scaling beyond Hyderabad to major metros like Mumbai and Delhi NCR, digitizing procurement for local kirana stores, and manufacturing startup Zetwerk advancing towards its IPO amid a strong order pipeline and improving margins.