Artificial intelligence chip startup Groq is seeking to raise up to $650 million from its existing investors, according to a report by Axios on Thursday. The major funding push follows a staggering $17 billion licensing agreement the company secured with semiconductor giant Nvidia in December.

The capital inject marks the launch of "Groq 2.0," a strategic evolution for the startup as it pivots its core business model. Groq is shifting its primary focus away from capital-intensive hardware manufacturing to specialize heavily in AI inferencing—the computing process that allows already-trained AI models to rapidly generate responses to user queries, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

The blockbuster Nvidia deal has already begun yielding massive windfalls for Groq’s early backers. Investors have already received substantial financial payouts, with a final cash distribution expected to clear soon.

Under the structure of the new raise, existing shareholders will collect the remainder of their cash distributions from the Nvidia licensing deal, after which they will be given the exclusive opportunity to reinvest that capital into the rebooted company. Highlighting strong institutional backing, venture firms Disruptive and Infinitum have agreed to backstop the entire $650 million round, guaranteeing the fundraise will be fully covered if it is not entirely subscribed by other existing investors.

Groq did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the funding round.

The startup's technology is also poised for international expansion. In March, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Nvidia is actively preparing a specialized, compliance-adjusted version of Groq's high-speed AI architecture designed specifically to be sold within the highly lucrative Chinese market.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada