Modular's co-founders, Chris Lattner and Tim Davis, have impressive backgrounds in the tech industry, which is believed to be a key factor in attracting venture capital interest. Lattner co-created the Swift programming language at Apple Inc., while Davis led the development of Google Cloud’s machine learning application programming interfaces. The company is seeking funding to capitalize on the high demand for Nvidia’s GPUs and a viable alternative to those chips.
Key takeaways:
- AI startup Modular Inc. is in talks with investors including General Catalyst for a significant funding round that could value the company at around $600 million.
- Modular's software provides an alternative to Nvidia's GPUs, which are currently in high demand and seen as the primary option for training AI models.
- The software simplifies the process of training and running machine learning models on chips designed by other companies, such as Intel, AMD, and Google, and improves their performance.
- Modular is seeking funding to capitalize on the high demand for Nvidia's GPUs and a viable alternative to those chips. The company previously raised $30 million in a seed funding round in June 2022.