Groq

Groq builds AI accelerators called Language Processing Units (LPUs). Founded in 2016 by ex-Google engineer Jonathan Ross, the Mountain View startup creates chips for fast AI inference and became a unicorn after raising a $300M Series C.

• Founded: 2016 by former Google engineers led by CEO Jonathan Ross and early CEO Douglas Wightman.
• Headquarters: Mountain View, California with offices in San Jose (CA), Liberty Lake (WA), Toronto (Canada) and London (UK).
• Technology: Application-specific chips called Language Processing Units (LPUs) that accelerate inference for large language models, image classification and anomaly detection.
• Funding & employees: Private company with approximately 250 employees (2023); raised a $300M Series C round in April 2021 led by Tiger Global and D1 Capital, valuing the startup over $1B.
• Mission: Deliver ultra-fast AI inference through hardware and software innovations.