The LLMs, Startups, and Founders Quietly Training to Speak in Hinglish
EduInvesting.in | May 2025
“India doesn’t need another food delivery app. We need a language model that understands ‘bhaiya, thoda kam lagao.’”
— Anonymous VC, probably
While OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google battle for LLM supremacy globally, a quieter revolution is happening in India.
Local entrepreneurs, IIT dropouts, and ex-Amazon engineers are now asking a bold question:
“Why can’t India have its own ChatGPT?”
Spoiler: It’s already happening.
Let’s look at the startups, brains, and business models powering India’s AI dreams — and which ones could become the next unicorns.
🤖 1. Sarvam AI — The Desi LLM Gladiator
| 💡 Founded | 🔁 By |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Vivek Raghavan (ex-Aadhaar) + Mukund Jha (ex-Dunzo) |
What They’re Building:
A Hindi-first LLM that understands Indian context, slang, culture, and yes — government forms.
📍 USP:
- Trained on vernacular data from Indian social networks, govt docs, newspapers
- Open-source friendly
- Working with IIT Madras + Indian AI policy groups
🧠 Why It Might Win:
The first serious player going after a “Bharat GPT” in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada — not just English-speakers in Bangalore.
🤑 Funding: ₹200 crore+ pre-Series A
🚀 EduInvestor Verdict: ✅ Track for future listing / acquisition by Reliance or HCL
📲 2. Krutrim AI — Ola Founder’s AI Revenge Arc
| 💡 Founded | 🔁 By |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola / Ola Electric) |
What They’re Building:
An India-trained foundational model and eventually — hardware too.
Yes, they’re building their own GPU stack in India.
📍 Vision: “Make AI for 1.4 billion Indians” — including voice AI, support chatbots, and factory automation.
🧠 Why It Might Win:
- Bhavish has a history of doing the impossible (and also the unstable)
- Government support for local AI
- First startup in India to launch its own foundational LLM in under a year
🤑 Funding: Backed by SoftBank & Temasek
🚀 EduInvestor Verdict: ⚠️ High vision, high chaos — but a serious unicorn contender
🛍️ 3. Gan.ai — Making Your AI Ads Speak Bhojpuri
| 💡 Founded | 🔁 By |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Suvrat Bhooshan (ex-Facebook AI) |
What They Do:
Real-time AI video personalization for brands — in any Indian language or accent.
📍 You record a single video, and they’ll:
- Translate it into 11 languages
- Lip-sync it
- Match regional context
- Push it as “native content” on Insta, YouTube, even WhatsApp
🧠 Why It Might Win:
This is AdTech’s AI moment — and Gan.ai is already working with Coke, Unilever, and Flipkart.
🤑 Funding: $5M+ from Y Combinator, Surge
🚀 EduInvestor Verdict: ✅ Potential IPO in 2–3 years
🧬 4. abhyas.ai — The AI Tuition Teacher for Tier-2 India
| 💡 Founded | 🔁 By |
|---|---|
| 2024 | IIT alumni + Teach For India network |
What They Do:
India’s first voice-enabled AI tutor that teaches in vernacular languages for:
- CBSE
- State boards
- NEET + UPSC
- Spoken English for job seekers
📍 Working with government schools, BYJU’s competitors, and NGO networks.
🧠 Why It Might Win:
Solves the “how do we scale teachers for 200 million students” problem.
🤑 Funding: Undisclosed seed from Blume + CIE IIIT-H
🚀 EduInvestor Verdict: ⚠️ Early stage, but IPO potential in edu-vertical SaaS
💻 5. Haptik (Now Jio-Backed) — The Old OG Now Supercharged
| 💡 Founded | Acquired By |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Reliance Jio in 2019 |
What They Do:
India’s largest chatbot platform, now layering LLMs on top of customer service flows.
📍 Clients include:
- Tata Group
- Kotak
- HDFC Life
- Indian Railways chatbot (!)
🧠 Why It Might Win:
Jio + data + AI = monopoly dreams.
Building voice assistants in 22 Indian languages.
🤑 Funding: Backed by Jio + global VCs
🚀 EduInvestor Verdict: ✅ Watch for RIL spinoff or IPO under Jio Platforms
📊 Table: Bharat’s ChatGPT Builders
| Startup | Niche | Funding | Language Focus | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarvam AI | LLMs for India | ₹200 Cr | Hindi, Tamil | Medium |
| Krutrim | Full-stack AI Infra | High (SoftBank) | Pan-India | High |
| Gan.ai | Video Ads Personalization | $5M+ | 11+ Languages | Medium |
| abhyas.ai | AI Tutors for Bharat | Seed Stage | 9+ Languages | High |
| Haptik | Chatbots + Jio | RIL-backed | All major | Low |
🧠 What This Means for Indian Investors
- 🟢 AI isn’t just happening in Silicon Valley
- 🔴 Most Indian listed IT firms are still slow to innovate
- ✅ But these startups could:
- Go public by 2027–28
- Get acquired by TCS, Reliance, or Amazon India
- Or become the next unicorns before your next PF credit
💼 EduInvestor’s Strategy
| Investor Type | What You Should Do |
|---|---|
| Angel Investor | Sarvam, Gan.ai = sharp early entry bets |
| Public Market Player | Track Haptik within RIL or Tata Elxsi AI news |
| Mutual Fund Holder | Ask: “Are they backing GenAI startups yet?” |
| Finfluencer | Start hyping them now and take credit later |
🧨 Final Thoughts: India’s ChatGPT Won’t Speak Perfect English
And that’s the point.
It’ll say “acha suno…”, understand “arre yaar yeh kya hai”, and help 1 billion+ people access real AI help — not just memes.
The global AI war may be fought with GPUs, but India’s AI revolution?
It’ll be fought in Hindi, Hinglish, Bhojpuri, and maybe even emoji.
