Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Advises Bessemer on Sarvam AI’s $300M Series B Round

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has acted as legal counsel to Bessemer Venture Partners in connection with its participation in the Series B fund-raise by Axonwise Private Limited, trading as Sarvam AI — one of India’s most closely watched sovereign AI startups. The round, targeting $300 million in total, achieved a first close of $234 million at a post-money valuation of $1.5 billion, announced on June 15, 2026.

Introduction

The transaction involves the Series B fundraising by Axonwise Private Limited (trade name: Sarvam AI), a Bengaluru-based company building a full-stack, sovereign AI platform custom-tailored for Indian languages, data, and governance. HCLTech and Bessemer Venture Partners invested in the round, with continued support from existing investors Khosla Ventures and Peak XV Partners. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised Bessemer Venture Partners on its participation in this funding round.

Deal Value

Sarvam AI raised $234 million in the first close of its $300 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion post-money. As part of the transaction, HCLTech will acquire a 10.46% stake in the Bengaluru-based startup for ₹1,427.25 crore, making it the lead strategic investor. The specific quantum of Bessemer Venture Partners‘ participation was not disclosed.

Legal Teams Involved

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas acted as sole legal counsel in this transaction, advising Bessemer Venture Partners. Three distinct practice teams contributed to the mandate.

Transaction Team — advising Bessemer Venture Partners on the fund-raise:

• Krithika Chandrasekaran, Partner (Team Lead)
• Jayant Belgaumkar, Senior Associate
• Manav, Associate
• Tara Ranade, Associate
• Abhisek Behera, Associate

TMT Team — advising on intellectual property, AI, and data protection aspects:

• Arun Prabhu, Partner – (Co-Head – Digital | TMT) (Team Lead)
• Arpita Sengupta, Partner (Team Lead)
• Nidhi Jhawar, Senior Associate
• Shivaram Gopal, Associate

Competition Team — advising on competition law compliance aspects:

• Avaantika Kakkar, Partner (Head – Competition) (Team Lead)
• Dhruv Rajain, Partner (Team Lead)
• Rajat Sharma, Principal Associate
• Vanya Agarwal, Senior Associate

Significance and Impact

The funding round is notable because it was led by HCLTech, one of India’s largest IT services companies, rather than a global technology platform or cloud provider. The deal reflects the growing strategic and legal complexity of India’s sovereign AI ecosystem, requiring specialist advice across general corporate, TMT, IP, and competition law — all delivered by a single firm.

The engagement of a dedicated Competition Team signals increased regulatory scrutiny around large-scale AI investments in India. The involvement of a specialist TMT and AI data protection sub-team further underscores the novel legal dimensions that foundation-model investments now demand. Sarvam AI has built a full-stack sovereign AI platform, from foundational models trained from scratch in India to commercially deployed applications already handling billions of enterprise interactions.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is based on the details provided and publicly available sources.