Krutrim makes no revenue; pours Rs 134.8 Cr into R&D in debut year

In its inaugural financial year, Krutrim—Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI venture and India's fastest unicorn—reported no revenue from operations and a total loss of Rs 2.84 crore.

According to the standalone financial statement, an interest income of Rs 3.05 crore in FY24 from bank deposits slightly offset these initial expenses. The company also noted it anticipated the loss as it set the groundwork for future revenue streams.

The biggest expense, however, has been the R&D investments, where Krutrim spent Rs 134.86 crore for advancements in Silicon, Krutrim Cloud, and Applied AI​.

The AI company said Krutrim Cloud is set for a Q1 FY25 launch, marking the beginning of anticipated revenue streams. Krutrim also plans to expand its data centre capacity, focusing on reaching a 1-gigawatt (GW) capability by 2028 through quarterly expansions.

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In February 2024, Krutrim announced the development of three chip families tailored to various AI and computing tasks: Bodhi for AI, Sarv for general computing, and Ojas for edge processing.

The company invested Rs 1.5 crore in a trial project to test advanced cooling methods to reduce electricity use in data centres. “We are exploring different cooling methodologies such as liquid immersion servers and DLC servers for efficient cooling, which will result in energy conservation,” it said in the filing.

Liquid immersion involves submerging servers in a non-conductive cooling fluid, efficiently dissipating heat. DLC uses liquid to cool specific components, like processors, instead of relying on traditional air-based cooling. These methods can significantly cut energy consumption, making data centres more environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

The company has launched data centre operations in Bengaluru and Hyderabad to support its AI ambitions.

It also launched India’s first foundational Large Language Model (LLM) through its AI assistant, accessible on mobile and web platforms, in February 2024. This step is part of a larger plan to establish a full-stack AI ecosystem, encompassing cloud infrastructure, AI models, applications, and silicon chip development, the company said.

In January, Krutrim SI Designs, raised $50 million from Matrix Partners and others at a $1 billion valuation, making it India’s fastest unicorn.

(Disclaimer: Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, is an independent director in Ola Electric)