Paris-based artificial intelligence voice startup Gradium has closed its seed funding round at a total of $100 million, announced Thursday. The round added Nvidia as a new investor alongside existing backers FirstMark Capital, Eurazeo, DST Global Partners, Eric Schmidt, and French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel. Originally launched in December with $70 million, the expanded capital positions the company to scale operations and accelerate talent acquisition. Founded by Neil Zeghidour, a researcher formerly with Google Brain, DeepMind, and Facebook, Gradium emerged as a spinout from the French AI laboratory Kyutai. The company develops audio models engineered for high-scale voice generation with ultra-low latency. This architecture targets the removal of conversational delays inherent in current AI agent implementations, delivering near-instantaneous voice responses for real-time applications. Operating in a crowded market alongside providers such as ElevenLabs and tech giants deploying voice capabilities through models like Gemini, Gradium has already secured enterprise traction since its December launch, including a partnership with automotive manufacturer Renault. The company attributes this early adoption to a focused strategy on performance optimization and responsive audio synthesis. Management stated the new capital will primarily fund a new San Francisco Bay Area office. This expansion aims to access specialized engineering talent and integrate closer with the broader American AI ecosystem. While Paris remains a prominent European AI hub, the North American presence signals Gradium’s intent to compete globally and recruit across major innovation centers. The completed funding round reflects sustained investor interest in specialized voice AI infrastructure as enterprises demand latency-optimized solutions for interactive platforms. Gradium will now direct resources toward product scaling, commercial deployment with existing clients, and workforce expansion across both European and North American operations.