Gradium raises $100 million seed with NVIDIA, plans Bay Area expansion
Gradium, a Paris-based AI voice startup, just added $30 million to its seed round, bringing the total to $100 million, with NVIDIA and support from existing investors like FirstMark Capital and Xavier Niel, who backed its December $70 million seed round.
The cash will help it set up shop in the Bay Area, putting it right next door to tech giants like Google and Meta.
Gradium voice tech removes awkward pauses
Gradium's claim to fame is its super-fast AI voice technology that cuts out those awkward pauses in digital conversations.
Co-founded by former Google Brain researcher Neil Zeghidour and spun out of the French lab Kyutai, the company has already snagged major clients like Renault, even while competing with heavyweights like ElevenLabs and Google's Gemini since launching in December 2025.