Google, Nvidia-backed CentML closes $37 million CAD to help firms deploy AI amid chip shortages

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As companies race to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) amid chip shortages, Toronto-based CentML is developing a solution to help customers make the most of existing supplies.Developing and deploying machine learning (ML) models is already a time-consuming and expensive affair. As AI use has accelerated over the past year, so has demand for related resources as companies have scrambled to access the computing power required to train ML models. This has helped fuel a scarcity of graphics processing units (GPUs), the specialized chips at the core of generative AI programs.Enter CentML, which has secured $37 million CAD ($27 million USD) in seed funding and support from a host of big-name investors as the startup looks to help companies figure out what hardware they can use to boost the performance and reduce the cost of their ML models.Essentially, what weve done is we get way more juice out of the available hardware for customers, CentML co-founder and CEO Gennady Pekhimenko told BetaKit in an interview.CentMLs seed round, which closed in early September, was led by Gradient Ventures, Googles AI-focused venture fund. Pekhimenko noted that Nvidia, Deloitte, and Thomson Reuters have also become partners, adding that engineering teams at the latter two firms will be using CentMLs product very soon.The round consisted of an undisclosed combination of equity and simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) funding.CentML isnt the only Canadian AI firm to recently secure convertible funding from strategic investors; Toronto-based AI chip manufacturer Tenstorrent recently did the same from the likes of Samsung, Kia, and Hyundai. Today, the startup counts Amazon and Snowflake among its customers.RELATED: Cohere secures strategic investment from SAP as enterprise demand for generative AI growsBased on the quality of the founders at CentML and the level of experience the whole team has, we believe that CentML is charting a unique course within the AI model optimization space, Gradient Ventures general partner Zach Bratun-Glennon told BetaKitCentMLs latest financing, which marks a particularly large seed round during any market, comes during a challenging time for Canadian tech.

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