3 hours ago - Business

Scoop: Groq raising $650 million for its second act

Dan Primack

Illustration of a dollar bill sign computer key followed by plus sign computer keys — Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Groq is raising up to $650 million from existing investors, after the AI chipmaker previously signed a $20 billion licensing deal with Nvidia that saw much of its senior team depart, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Groq is one of the biggest AI wins so far for venture capitalists, and those same investors now get a second bite at the apple.

Or at least a different sort of apple, as Groq transitions away from hardware and toward becoming an AI inference neocloud business.

Zoom in: Groq's investors already got paid out, with a final cash distribution hitting soon, via the Nvidia deal.

Now they're being asked to participate pro rata in Groq 2.0, with existing backers Disruptive and Infinitum backstopping the $650 million if it's not filled.
Groq 2.0 is being led by company vets Adam Winter (CEO) and Matt Eng (CFO).
Existing shareholders will receive the remaining cash distributions and then have the opportunity to invest into a new company.

The bottom line: Don't be surprised if this becomes a new transaction template in the AI private markets.

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Scoop: Groq raising $650 million for its second act

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