Groq targets $650 million fundraise after Nvidia licensing deal: Report

Groq is raising up to $650 million from existing investors, Axios reported on Thursday, after the AI chip startup signed a $17 billion licensing deal with Nvidia in December.

Groq has ‌been ⁠shifting focus ⁠away from hardware toward AI inferencing, where it specialises in enabling trained AI models to respond to user requests.

The startup's investors have already received payouts, with ​a final cash distribution ⁠expected soon ‌through the Nvidia deal, ​Axios ​reported.


Investors are now being ⁠asked to participate in Groq 2.0, with existing backers Disruptive and Infinitum backstopping the $650 million raise if it is not fully subscribed, the report said.

Existing shareholders will receive the remaining cash distributions and then ‌have the opportunity to invest in a new company, Axios reported.

​Groq ​did not ⁠immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Nvidia is preparing a version of its Groq ​AI chips that can be sold to the Chinese market, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in March.