TLDR: HDFC Bank has made its first investment in the generative AI sector, backing Bengaluru-based CoRover, the creator of the BharatGPT large language model. This strategic move marks the first such investment by a major private bank in a generative AI startup, aiming to expand AI solutions across India’s diverse linguistic landscape.
HDFC Bank, one of India’s leading private sector banks, has announced its inaugural investment in the generative artificial intelligence (AI) space by funding Bengaluru-based CoRover, the innovative company behind the BharatGPT large language model (LLM). While the specific investment amount remains undisclosed, this marks a significant milestone as it is the first such investment by a prominent private bank in a generative AI model developer startup.
CoRover, a conversational AI startup, has established a substantial presence, serving over 1 billion users and 25,000 enterprises. The company specializes in developing a range of AI assistants, including chatbots, voicebots, videobots, and telephony AI solutions. Its flagship product, BharatGPT, is highlighted as a sovereign, enterprise-grade LLM, meticulously built in India, for India. It boasts multilingual, multimodal, and domain-adaptable capabilities, supporting numerous Indian languages and dialects.
This investment follows CoRover’s successful Series A funding round in September 2024, where it raised $4 million from investors such as Venture Catalysts, CanBank Venture Capital Fund, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, and IIIT Delhi’s iHub Anubhuti.
Arup Rakshit, Group Head Treasury at HDFC Bank, emphasized the bank’s rationale behind the investment, stating, “Development of BharatGPT, which enables exchange of information in multiple Indian languages for a diverse country like India, set apart CoRover for us.” He further added, “We value the expertise of CoRover, catering to the unique vernacular requirements. We are privileged to play a meaningful role in the IndiaAI Startups Global Accelerator Programme through CoRover.”
Ankush Sabharwal, Founder and CEO of CoRover, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, noting, “This partnership signals a shared commitment to building AI that is sovereign, secure, inclusive, and capable of scaling across India’s most critical sectors.” He also acknowledged the crucial role of government policies and initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission in creating such opportunities.
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CoRover’s proprietary platform facilitates the rapid deployment of intelligent conversational AI agents across various channels, seamlessly integrating with BharatGPT’s deep language understanding and contextual accuracy. The company has a notable track record, having collaborated with major organizations including Indian Railways, IRCTC, LIC, NPCI, and SEBI. Furthermore, CoRover recently launched BharatGPT Mini, an innovation designed to enable AI functionality on low-end devices without internet connectivity, significantly enhancing accessibility in rural and infrastructure-limited environments.
