Paris-based AI voice startup Gradium raises $100M seed, backed by Nvidia

Gradium, a Paris-based AI voice startup, has raised a total of $100 million in its seed round after reopening it to new investors, including Nvidia. The company originally launched from stealth in December with $70 million from investors such as FirstMark Capital, Eurazeo, DST Global Partners, Eric Schmidt, and Xavier Niel. Gradium was spun out of French AI lab Kyutai and co-founded by Neil Zeghidour, a former researcher at Google Brain, DeepMind, and Facebook. The startup is developing audio models that deliver voice at scale with ultra-low latency, enabling near-instantaneous AI voice responses. The company plans to use the new funding to open an office in the Bay Area to compete for talent. Despite competition from other voice AI startups like ElevenLabs and major players like Google's Gemini, Gradium has already secured major customers, including French auto manufacturer Renault.