Lightspeed Venture Partners has established a unique position in the global AI landscape by simultaneously backing both Anthropic and Sarvam AI, according to reports from The Times of India and beincrypto.com. The firm led Anthropic's $3.5 billion Series E round in March 2025, which valued the Claude maker at $61.5 billion. Simultaneously, Lightspeed entities hold equity shares, preference shares, and convertible debentures in Axonwise Private Limited, the legal entity behind Sarvam AI. This connection extends beyond technology, as the same global investors fund rival AI systems on different continents.
Sarvam AI recently raised $234 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, as reported by The Times of India and beincrypto.com. The company, founded by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar in 2023, represents India's most prominent AI startup. The funding round involved Venture Highway Fund III, which holds Series A convertible debentures in Sarvam. This connection ties General Catalyst to Sarvam through an acquisition that occurred in 2024, when General Catalyst linked up with Venture Highway, an India-focused seed investor.
General Catalyst's AI investments span three of the most-watched labs globally, according to The Times of India and beincrypto.com reports. The firm backs Anthropic and Mistral AI in France, while its connection to Sarvam runs through Venture Highway's investment. Additionally, the same filings tie Sarvam to OpenAI through Khosla Ventures, which holds Sarvam equity and Series A preference shares. Khosla Ventures was OpenAI's first venture capital investor, creating a direct connection between the Indian startup and the US-based AI leader.
The shared backers between Anthropic and Sarvam AI demonstrate how concentrated AI funding has become, as reported by The Times of India and beincrypto.com. The same names increasingly decide which labs scale, from San Francisco to Bengaluru. While the shared backers do not make the AI firms partners, they show how global investors are strategically positioning themselves across multiple promising AI companies. This investment pattern reflects the growing competition and opportunity in the artificial intelligence sector across different geographical markets.
