Startups Directory

Groq builds Language Processing Units (LPUs)—purpose-built AI inference chips that deliver up to 10x the throughput of comparable GPUs with ultra-low latency. The company offers GroqCloud, a fully managed inference platform with OpenAI-compatible APIs, and GroqRack for on-premises deployments. Founded by former Google TPU engineers, Groq has raised $1.75B and reached a $6.9B valuation, with a landmark $20B licensing deal with Nvidia announced in December 2025.

Ayar Labs develops TeraPHY, an industry-first optical I/O chiplet that replaces traditional electrical interconnects in semiconductor systems using silicon photonics. The solution delivers up to 1000x bandwidth density improvements and 1/10th the power consumption compared to conventional electrical I/O, enabling 8 Tbps of bandwidth at 10-nanosecond latencies. Built for AI accelerators, data centers, and distributed computing systems, TeraPHY eliminates GPU communication bottlenecks and solves the memory wall problem in high-performance computing.