Groq aims to raise up to $650 million from existing investors as it transitions from an AI chip maker to an AI inference neocloud business, Axios reported Thursday (May 28).
The move follows a $20 billion licensing deal with Nvidia announced in December that saw much of Groq’s senior team leave the company, according to the report.
According to the report, Groq’s current efforts are offering existing shareholders the opportunity to invest in “Groq 2.0.”
Groq did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
In a deal announced in December, Nvidia acquired talent and technology from Groq, with Groq founder Jonathan Ross, Groq president Sunny Madra and other members of the Groq team joining Nvidia.
At the time, an NVIDIA spokesperson told PYMNTS, “We are not acquiring Groq. We have acquired a non-exclusive license to Groq’s IP and have hired engineering talent from Groq’s team to join us in our mission to deliver world-leading accelerated computing technology.”
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Groq said at the time that with the agreement, the companies aim to expand access to high-performance, low-cost inference.
“Groq will continue to operate as an independent company. [Groq Chief Financial Officer] “Simon Edwards will become chief executive officer. GroqCloud will continue to operate without interruption,” the company said in a Dec. 24 blog post.
Three months earlier, in September, Groq announced that it had raised $750 million in new funding, valuing it at $6.9 billion.
Groq said at the time that its computing powers more than 2 million developers and Fortune 500 companies, expands its global presence and plays a central role in the global expansion of American-originated AI technology.
The valuation that Groq achieved in September was more than double the valuation it received about a year ago. In August 2024, the company secured $640 million in a funding round valued at $2.8 billion.
As recently as February, Groq said the deployment of GroqCloud continues to support the company’s planned infrastructure expansion. The company has a record number of over 3.5 million developers using GroqCloud.
