New unicorn Reka AI raises $110 million, with investors including NVIDIA and Snowflake
Artificial intelligence company Reka AI raised $110 million from investors including NVIDIA and Snowflake, with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The company focuses on developing large language models, claiming its efficiency surpasses that of competitors. Reka AI was founded in 2022 by former researchers from Google and Meta, with the number of employees increasing from 20 to 50 over the past year. Snowflake will offer Reka AI's models and products to its customers
According to Zhitong Finance APP, artificial intelligence company Reka AI has raised $110 million from investors including NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and Snowflake (SNOW.US). This deal has more than doubled the company's valuation to over $1 billion.
Reka AI develops large language models, which are key technologies behind the generative artificial intelligence boom. The company claims its efficiency surpasses that of its competitors. This startup was founded in 2022 by researchers from Google and Meta. According to PitchBook data, the company was valued at approximately $300 million in a funding round in 2023.
This financing comes at a time when emerging artificial intelligence companies are being fervently pursued by investors and large tech companies. It has been reported that Snowflake had previously discussed acquisition matters with Reka AI. Reka AI CEO Dani Yogatama stated that the negotiations ultimately failed because "both companies believed it was more reasonable to develop independently."
Reka AI was established with the intention of creating powerful and efficient foundational models, and is now also developing tools for interface design, application logic, and other application aspects. Yogatama noted that the company's staff has increased from 20 to 50 over the past year as the company is working to accelerate product development.
Snowflake's Vice President of AI Engineering Vivek Raghunathan stated that the company will provide Reka AI's models and other products to customers. Raghunathan remarked, "There are very few teams in the world with the capabilities they possess. Almost all of the talent at this level works at companies like OpenAI, Meta, or Anthropic. Reka is one of the few independent companies, and they have already proven their ability to compete with these companies."
