IIT-BHU Graduate Creates Luna: World's First Emotional Voice-to-Voice AI Built in India

In a groundbreaking achievement for India’s AI ecosystem, Sparsh Agrawal, a 25-year-old IIT-BHU alumnus, has unveiled Luna, the world’s first emotional voice-to-voice AI model. Developed under his Jaipur-based startup Pixa AI, Luna can sing, whisper, and express genuine emotions — marking a leap forward in conversational and empathetic artificial intelligence.

Unlike traditional models that depend on text conversion, Luna directly processes audio inputs to generate human-like, emotionally aware speech in real time. It can modulate tone, pause naturally, and convey empathy, creating an experience much closer to true human interaction.

BUILT WITHOUT BIG-TECH FUNDING

What makes Luna remarkable is not only its technology but also its grassroots origin. Agrawal built the model without corporate backing or major funding.

“I didn’t have a research lab or millions in funding. I borrowed GPUs, used cloud credits, and even took credit card debt to build Luna,” Agrawal shared.

Despite limited resources, Luna outperforms major global AI systems such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 TTS and ElevenLabs, achieving 50% lower latency and more natural, expressive voice output.

This innovation demonstrates that India’s AI talent can compete globally — proving that resourcefulness can sometimes be more powerful than resources.

AI WITH EMOTION: INDIA’S NEW FRONTIER

Agrawal’s startup, Pixa AI, envisions Luna as a voice layer for multiple industries, including entertainment, wellness, education, and automotive technology. Early partnerships and interest have already emerged from automotive firms, gaming platforms, and AI-driven customer experience companies.

“Most voice models are built for support; Luna is built for emotion,” Agrawal explained. “It’s not about replying — it’s about feeling.”

His work has attracted praise from Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and industry leaders such as HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry, who called Luna “an amazing product — India’s first emotional AI innovation.”

PLACING INDIA AT THE HEART OF AI INNOVATION

Backed by investors including Kunal Shah, Nikhil Kamath, and Kunal Kapoor, Pixa AI is now focusing on scaling Luna globally. Agrawal was also the only solo founder selected from 15,000 applicants to the WTFund, solidifying his status as one of India’s most promising AI innovators.

Working with his team — Nitish Kartik, Apoorv Singh, and Pratyush Kumar — Agrawal aims to make Luna the global standard for emotionally intelligent AI. He believes this is just the beginning of a new wave of India-led innovation in artificial intelligence.

“This is proof that world-class technology can emerge from India — built with passion and purpose, not just capital,” Agrawal stated.

With Luna, India takes a bold step toward becoming the global hub for emotional AI development — blending innovation, empathy, and intelligence in a uniquely human way.