Foundry, a new entrant in the public cloud computing space, is specifically designed to cater to the needs of AI and machine learning workloads.

Here's a breakdown of what they offer:

Unlike traditional public cloud providers like AWS or Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure, Foundry tailors its infrastructure and services specifically for the demands of AI/ML tasks. This could involve optimized hardware like GPUs and high-bandwidth networking.

Foundry also claims to offer better price-performance compared to other cloud platforms. They achieve this through a sophisticated design that optimizes compute resource allocation.

Foundry prioritizes security and reliability, understanding the critical nature of data and computing power in AI/ML projects.

Certainly, Foundry seems promising for companies and organizations that heavily rely on AI/ML, which explains why Foundry, as a new breed of public cloud for AI/ML workloads, announced $80 million in seed and Series A funding to orchestrate the world’s compute capacity.

Foundry intends to leverage the funding to bolster its operational capabilities. This may include expanding its workforce by recruiting top talent in cloud computing, AI and software development. Additionally, the company may invest in establishing new data centers strategically located around the globe to improve latency and meet the growing demand for geographically distributed AI infrastructure.

Another core focus for Foundry will be enhancing its product offerings. This involves expanding the range of virtual machines and cloud instances optimized for AI workloads. Foundry may also develop new tools and services specifically designed to streamline the development, training, and deployment of AI models.

Foundry also recognizes the importance of collaboration in the AI landscape. The funding will allow the company to forge strategic partnerships with industry leaders. Potential partners include hardware manufacturers specializing in AI accelerators, software companies developing AI frameworks and cloud service providers seeking to expand their AI offerings. These collaborations would allow Foundry to integrate best-in-class technologies and services within its platform and provide a more comprehensive solution for its customers.

But Foundry's ultimate goal is to establish itself as the preeminent AI/ML infrastructure platform. By maximizing the utilization of compute resources, a critical and impactful factor in AI development, Foundry aspires to democratize access to high-performance computing power. This increased accessibility is envisioned to accelerate the pace of AI innovation and unlock its potential to benefit society across various sectors.

“AI accelerator compute is arguably the most critical resource in civilization today, so the bottlenecks here reverberate broadly,” said Foundry’s founder and CEO, Jared Quincy Davis. “While the much-discussed GPU shortage is part of the challenge we face, it's not the only issue. Arguably, the industry suffers more from under-utilization than from under-supply. The work we are doing at Foundry is addressing this from multiple angles.”

The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital (News - Alert) and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Redpoint, Microsoft Ventures (M12), Conviction, NEA and other technical and commercial minds from the industry. With this funding and a clear vision, Foundry is on track to impact the future of AI.