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 faces competition from other voice AI startups like ElevenLabs and from large model makers known for voice tech, including Google’s Gemini, but it is gaining traction.

Gradium develops audio models designed to deliver voice at scale with ultra-low latency, enabling AI voices to respond almost instantly in conversations.

Big customers, including Renault, have signed on since Gradium’s December launch, signaling market interest in its voice AI technology.

Gradium was spun out of the French AI lab Kyutai, which is backed by Xavier Niel, and both companies were co-founded by Neil Zeghidour.

Gradium originally launched in December with $70 million from investors such as FirstMark Capital, Eurazeo, DST Global Partners, Eric Schmidt, and Xavier Niel, and is co-founded by Neil Zeghidour, a former Google Brain, DeepMind, and Facebook researcher.

The $100 million seed funding will be used to open an office in the San Francisco Bay Area to compete for talent and strengthen Gradium’s position in the AI ecosystem.