Why India's first AI unicorn stopped building models and chips
What's the story
Krutrim, the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up led by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, has announced a major shift in its business strategy. The company is now focusing on AI cloud services instead of developing AI models and chips. This change was part of a strategic realignment in late 2025, which saw the company pause chip development and LLMs (Large Language Models), and redirect resources toward building its cloud infrastructure stack.
Market validation
Krutrim reports threefold revenue growth for FY26
A company spokesperson told Moneycontrol that Krutrim has achieved profitability, self-funding, and market traction. "Our AI cloud is built for Indian enterprises, by Indian engineers. The external client momentum we are seeing validates the depth of our platform," they said. This comes as Krutrim reported a revenue of about ₹300 crore for FY26—a threefold increase from last year—and its first annual net profit with a profit after tax margin of over 10%.
Technological advancement
Krutrim's full-stack AI cloud platform
Krutrim now operates a full-stack AI cloud platform that is built in-house and deployed at scale. The platform supports enterprise workloads across sectors such as mobility, manufacturing, and customer operations. Despite the strategic pivot, Krutrim remains financially self-sustaining with no immediate need for external funding. This comes after Ola Group shifted its entire workload to Krutrim's in-house AI firm after parting ways with Microsoft Azure.
Growth trajectory
How Krutrim became India's first AI unicorn
Founded on January 26, 2024, by Aggarwal, Krutrim became India's first AI unicorn after raising $50 million at a valuation of $1 billion. The funding round was led by Matrix Partners India. In March 2025, Aggarwal pledged an additional 5.88 crore shares of Ola Electric to fund Krutrim—his second and final pledge for the venture. He had also committed ₹2,000 crore in February 2025 with a promise of ₹10,000 crore by next year.