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Krutrim: From idea to unicorn, Krutrim's success journey... India's own AI
What if solving India’s language barrier could turn into a billion-dollar opportunity?
That’s exactly what Bhavish Aggarwal—founder of Ola and Ola Electric—did with his third venture, Krutrim, launched in April 2023.
In just one year, it became India’s first homegrown AI unicorn, valued at $1B+, backed by Matrix Partners India.
The Big Idea
Krutrim set out to make AI truly Indian—training large language models from scratch on 2 trillion tokens and enabling them to understand 20+ Indian languages and generate text in 10.From English to Tamil, Krutrim made AI speak like India.
The Innovation
Its core products—Krutrim Base and Krutrim Pro—aren’t just text models. They generate text, images, and videos, outperforming global benchmarks like MMLU, BBH, and HellaSwag.
The Growth Play
Krutrim followed a “build for Bharat” pricing strategy—offering affordable AI subscriptions for startups and SMEs. This democratized access to advanced AI brings innovation beyond metros to tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
The Foundation
With strong cloud infrastructure, real-time data processing, and a focus on scalability, Krutrim built a product ready to grow globally—from India to Southeast Asia and Africa.
The Funding Journey
2023: Raised a $10M seed round to build its first models.
2024: Secured a $50M Series A, reaching unicorn status.
2029 Goal: $150M in revenue with sustainable, energy-efficient AI models.
The Challenges
Competition: Beating global AI leaders on performance.
Language Barriers: Embracing India’s diversity instead of avoiding it.
Scalability: Leveraging cloud-native design to scale fast.
The Vision Ahead
Krutrim aims to pioneer “Green AI,” cut computing costs by 20%, and spread AI literacy across rural India. Because empowering people with technology is the ultimate scale.
Entrepreneur’s Takeaway:
“Don’t copy Silicon Valley. Build for your own market—solve a uniquely local problem, and the world will notice.”
Krutrim’s unicorn story proves that local innovation can drive global disruption when backed by vision, affordability, and execution.
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