Everyone, everywhere is talking GPUs. From NVIDIA’s trillion dollar market cap run-up and Supermicro’s 12x surge leading to inclusion in the S&P 500 to Cerebras Systems‘s 4 trillion transistor AI chip, Gen AI compute is a heady place to be. Check out this crazy chart re: Supermicro (via The Wall Street Journal)
Anyway, it was a busy week with a few large announcements. Let’s go.
NVIDIA in Talks to Acquire AI Orchestration Firm Run:ai
Gen AI’s hottest player NVIDIA is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire the Israeli startup Run:ai (Acquired by NVIDIA). Founded in 2018, Run:ai has carved a niche for itself with an orchestration and virtualization software layer designed to optimize AI workloads on GPUs. Run:ai has raised $118 mm over three rounds of funding. It’s last funding round raised $75 mm in March 22. Backers include Tiger Global and Insight Partners. The deal could value Run:ai at as much as $1 billion.
NVIDIA continues to be extremely active in the Gen AI startup ecosystem with dozens of investments across the stack.
Together.ai Secures $106M Funding Led by Salesforce Ventures
Together AI announced a fresh infusion of $106 mm in a Series A2 funding round, led by Salesforce Ventures and participation from Coatue, Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Emergence Capital and others. The new funds are a strong vote of confidence from the company’s existing and new backers given the company announced its last $102 mm Series A round just over three months ago. That round was led by Kleiner Perkins, and the list of investors included NVIDIA.
Together AIis known for its serverless APIs for AI model inference and fine-tuning. It has seen substantial growth with over 45,000 registered developers and traffic growing 3x every month. The funding will support expanded compute capacity and the development of features catering to large enterprises.
I covered Together AI and the related landscape in an earlier edition of InfraRead. Check it out here.
Databricks Partners with, and Funds, Mistral AI
Databricks has entered into a partnership with Mistral AI, becoming a Series A investor in the company. This collaboration integrates Mistral AI’s open models within the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, facilitating easier access to generative AI models for enterprises. Almost 1000 enterprises have already leveraged Mistral models via Databricks.
Applied Intuition Announces $250M Series E
Applied Intuition, a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, has announced a $250 million Series E funding round. This round, led by Lux Capital, Elad Gil, and strategic investor PORSCHE INVESTMENTS, propels the company’s valuation to $6 billion. Applied Intuition’s growth is supported by its expansion in the automotive, defense, and other industries, with plans to further its AI and machine learning initiatives.
Zscaler Acquires Avalor to Enhance AI-Driven Cybersecurity
Zscaler announced its acquisition of Avalor. While the deal size was not disclosed, Israeli news sources report it was $350 mm. Avalor is known for its advanced Data Fabric for Security analytics platform, specializes in aggregating and simplifying the vulnerability data produced by a multitude of cybersecurity tools. This integration is expected to enhance Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange platform by offering streamlined reporting of security incidents, incident mitigation, and advanced data classification among other features.
Jay Chaudhry, CEO of Zscaler, emphasized the importance of underlying data in AI’s effectiveness, stating that this acquisition will enable more effective vulnerability identification and breach prevention. Avalor co-founders Raanan Raz and Kfir Tishbi bring valuable experience to Zscaler, having previously led significant projects at Datorama, a marketing analytics firm acquired by Salesforce.
This move marks Zscaler’s third acquisition, indicating a strategic expansion to reinforce its security offerings with AI and large language model capabilities. marking a significant stride in AI-based security risk management.
Nozomi Networks Raises $100 mm in Series E
Nozomi Networks announceda $100 mm Series E funding round aimed at accelerating cyber defenses for critical infrastructure. With investments from Mitsubishi Electric and Schneider Electric, Nozomi Networks underscores the increasing importance of robust cybersecurity solutions for operational technology (OT) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Nozomi Networks claims to protect 105 million devices globally, across six continents with over 12,000 installations. They have driven a fivefold increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) since 2021 with the introduction of their flagship Vantage offering. Existing backers include Honeywell Ventures, In-Q-Tel, and Samsung amongst others.
Wiz to Acquire Gem Security in a $350 Million Deal
Cloud cybersecurity firm Wiz is set to acquire Gem Security (acquired by Wiz) for $350 million. This acquisition marks Wiz’s second, following its purchase of Rafttin December. Wiz, headquartered in New York, has quickly distinguished itself in the cloud cybersecurity landscape through a robust offering aimed at comprehensive threat management, including incident readiness and real-time threat detection and response. The company has raised $900 million in funding and is reportedly generating $350 million in ARR. Backers include Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greenoaks Capital Partners.
Earlier in March, The Financial Times reported Wiz was seeking to raise an additional $800 mm at a $10 bn valuation. The company has deniedthe report.
Cyera Targets $200 mm in New Funding
Cyera, an Israeli data security startup, is reportedly close to closing a new funding round that could triple its valuation to over $1.5 billion. This round is expected to raise at least $200 million, bringing the company’s total funding to $360 million.
Previously, Cyera closed a $100 million Series B round in June 2023, which valued the company at $500 million. This was more than double their valuation from their $56 million Series A round in March 2022. Investors include Accel, Sequoia Capital, Cyberstarts, and Redpoint.
Cyera’s co-founders, Yotam Segev and Tamar Bar-Ilan, met while serving in the Israeli Defense Forces and have experience building cloud security solutions. Their AI-powered platform helps organizations understand and secure their data across various cloud environments.
My day job is advising growing companies on fundraising and M&A. If you are an investor or entrepreneur I’d love to connect.