Intel Capital Invests $19M in TrueFoundry for AI Deployment

TrueFoundry Secures $19 Million to Streamline Enterprise AI Deployments

A new funding round has been completed by TrueFoundry, a company founded by former Meta engineers. The startup, focused on facilitating the deployment of AI systems for large organizations, has received $19 million in investment. Intel Capital spearheaded this fresh capital injection.

The Rise of GenAI and the Need for Optimized Infrastructure

The emergence of Generative AI, particularly following the November 2022 launch of ChatGPT, has prompted businesses of all sizes to explore AI integration. However, GenAI’s reliance on large language models necessitates substantial computational resources. Access to a large number of GPUs isn't universal, making GPU optimization a critical factor. Furthermore, organizations require the ability to experiment with diverse models and refine existing ones to ensure AI systems align with their specific operational needs.

TrueFoundry’s Platform-as-a-Service Solution

TrueFoundry offers a platform-as-a-service software solution designed to address these challenges. Targeting full-stack data scientists, the platform simplifies end-to-end AI deployments through features like auto-scaling, proactive maintenance, centralized access controls, and real-time monitoring.

From Machine Learning to Generative AI

Established in June 2021 by Nikunj Bajaj, Abhishek Choudhary, and Anuraag Gutgutia – all alumni of IIT Kharagpur – TrueFoundry initially provided cross-cloud native software to accelerate machine learning deployments. As GenAI gained prominence in 2023, the company adapted its system to incorporate GenAI capabilities.

“Previously, data scientists concentrated on model experimentation, while deployment was typically handled by ML engineers,” explained Gutgutia in a recent interview. “Our system empowers data scientists to construct and test these complex systems at scale before handing them off to the platform team for final deployment.”

The Autopilot System for AI Application Scaling

The startup’s core offering is an “autopilot” system. This AI-powered solution analyzes logs and metrics to optimize AI application scaling by dynamically adjusting GPU usage and resolving memory constraints.

According to Gutgutia, a TrueFoundry customer with a small, two-person team was able to manage 10 million requests per second utilizing the autopilot system.

A Growing Customer Base

TrueFoundry currently serves 30 paying customers globally, alongside a significant number of users experimenting with its open-source RAG framework. Notable clients include Nvidia, which utilizes the software to optimize its GPU clusters, and ResMed, a med-tech company developing an internal AI platform.

Other customers include Siemens Healthineers, Automation Anywhere, Games24x7, and Whatfix.

Multi-Cloud Compatibility and On-Premise Deployment

The software is built on Kubernetes, ensuring compatibility with major cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Azure. Enterprises also have the option of deploying the platform on-premise.

Faster ROI and Cost Reduction

Bajaj reports that enterprises leveraging TrueFoundry have launched internal AI platforms in as little as two months and achieved return on investment within four months – significantly faster than the industry average of 14 months. Gutgutia further states that customers experience a 40-50% reduction in infrastructure costs, alongside a 10x improvement in deployment speed, regardless of the AI application type.

Competing with Cloud Vendor Solutions

While major cloud providers like Amazon (SageMaker) and Google (Vertex) are offering their own AI deployment tools, Gutgutia maintains that TrueFoundry’s solution remains valuable. It accelerates compute utilization for cloud providers, speeds up time-to-market for AI applications, and lowers overall costs.

Investment Details and Future Plans

The Series A funding round was led by Intel Capital, with participation from Eniac Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and Jump Capital. Angel investors Gokul Rajaram, Mohit Aron, and Cyan Banister also contributed.

The funding will be used to expand the team from 45 members in India to include go-to-market roles in the U.S., encompassing sales, customer success, and product marketing. TrueFoundry also plans to forge partnerships, particularly with cloud vendors, and will seek listing in key cloud marketplaces, starting with AWS Marketplace.

The company intends to launch an AI agent designed to recommend optimal resources, enable auto-scaling, and provide troubleshooting assistance.

Total Funding and Growth Trajectory

With this latest round, TrueFoundry’s total funding exceeds $21 million, including a $2.3 million seed round in September 2022 led by Peak XV’s Surge. The startup has seen a fourfold increase in its customer base over the past year and has deployed over 1,000 clusters for client ML workloads.

Gutgutia reports an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of “north of $1.5 million” and anticipates doubling this figure in the coming year.