KDDI Open Innovation Fund III Invests in Groq, Inc., Developer of Fast AI Inference

August 21, 2024

KDDI CORPORATION

KDDI invested in Groq, Inc. (Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States; CEO: Jonathan Ross; hereinafter "Groq"), a leader in fast AI inference technology, through the KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (operated by Global Brain Corporation; hereinafter "KOIF III"), which aims to incubate new business co-creations with promising venture startups.

Groq builds the LPU™ AI inference technology, a hardware and software platform, that delivers exceptional AI compute speed, quality, and energy efficiency. This technology enables developers to build and deploy the next generation of AI applications more affordably through the GroqCloud.

Through this investment, KDDI will promote social implementation of generative AI applications while supporting Groq's future business expansion into Japan.

As "the company that customers feel closest to," KDDI will continue to promote business co-creation through investment in promising startup companies, and create new business models together with customers and partners.

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• ■Overview of Groq

  • (1)

    • Company name

      : Groq, Inc.

  • (2)

    • Headquarters

      : Mountain View, California, United States

  • (3)

    • Date founded

      : 2016

  • (4)

    • Business activities

      : Development of AI technology for inference

  • (5)

    • Representative

      : Jonathan Ross

  • (6)

    • URL

      : https://wow.groq.com/

• ■About KDDI Open Innovation Fund

  KDDI Open Innovation Fund is a corporate venture fund that supports a broad range of venture companies. The currently active KDDI Open Innovation Fund III focuses on the areas of AI, IoT, data marketing, fintech, B2B SaaS, and entertainment with a total operating fund of 30 billion yen.