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

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

Gradium builds ultra-low-latency voice models so AI conversations feel instant, without awkward pauses. It first came out of stealth last December with $70M, then reopened the seed round to bring in Nvidia and others, hitting $100M total. The cash goes toward opening a Bay Area office and competing for talent near Anthropic and OpenAI—a telling move for a Paris-based startup. It already counts Renault as a customer, but faces stiff competition from ElevenLabs (valued at $11B) and Google's Gemini voice capabilities.

Why it matters: A $100M seed is top-of-market for voice AI, and Nvidia's backing adds hardware credibility. But with no product demo or latency numbers disclosed, it sits right at the featured threshold — not enough for 78+.