Groq vs Modal

By valuation, Groq is the larger company at $20B versus $1.1B — a 18.2x difference. Size can also be measured by team: Groq employs 300 people while Modal has 30 employees.

Groq has raised more in total funding at $1.4B, compared to Modal's $111M — a gap of $1.3B. Combined, the two companies have completed 5 known funding rounds.

Groq leads with an Awaira Score of 80/100, while Modal sits at 71/100. That 9-point gap reflects real differences in funding, scale, and traction — it's not a vanity metric.

Groq was founded by Jonathan Ross in 2016. Modal was founded by Erik Bernhardsson in 2021. Visit each company's profile on Awaira for a full founder biography.

Groq: Groq is an AI infrastructure company founded in 2016 that designs and manufactures specialized processors for artificial intelligence workloads. The company's core product is the Language Processing Unit (LPU), a custom-built chip architecture optimized for inference tasks in large language models and other AI applications. Unlike traditional GPUs designed for general-purpose computing, Groq's LPUs prioritize deterministic latency and throughput for sequential AI processing, enabling faster token generation in inference scenarios. Groq has positioned itself as an alternative to NVIDIA's GPU-dominated infrastructure market, targeting enterprises requiring high-performance AI inference at scale. The company offers cloud-based access to its hardware through GroqCloud, allowing developers to run inference workloads with reduced latency compared to conventional GPU implementations. Groq operates in the competitive AI infrastructure sector, competing with established players like NVIDIA, as well as emerging alternatives including custom chip manufacturers and cloud providers developing proprietary AI accelerators. In December 2025, Nvidia and Groq announced an agreement reportedly valued at approximately $20 billion to license Groq's AI inference technology. Groq's growth trajectory reflects increasing enterprise demand for efficient inference infrastructure. Groq's LPU architecture specifically optimizes for inference latency rather than training, addressing a distinct performance bottleneck in deployed AI systems. Groq operates in the AI Infrastructure sector and is headquartered in United States. Founded in 2016 by Jonathan Ross, Groq has raised $1.4B in total funding, achieving a valuation of $20B as of its latest round. The company's funding journey includes a Series A of $30M in 2019, a Series B of $40M in 2021, a Series C of $300M in 2021, a Series D of $450M in 2023. The most recent round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. With approximately 300 employees, Groq has established itself as a Acquired-stage player in the AI Infrastructure market. The company holds an Awaira Score of 80/100, reflecting its strong position across valuation, funding trajectory, team scale, and market influence. Groq competes in a rapidly evolving segment alongside other AI Infrastructure companies. Based in United States, Groq is part of a growing international AI ecosystem attracting talent and investment. The AI Infrastructure space has attracted significant investment in recent years, with companies racing to capture enterprise and consumer demand for AI-powered solutions. Modal: Modal is an AI infrastructure company founded in 2021 that provides cloud computing tools for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. The platform enables developers to build, deploy, and scale AI models with reduced infrastructure complexity. Modal's core offering centers on serverless computing infrastructure specifically optimized for AI workloads, allowing users to run GPU-intensive tasks without managing underlying hardware directly. The company positions itself within the broader AI infrastructure category, competing alongside platforms like Replicate, Lambda Labs, and cloud providers' AI services. Modal's approach focuses on simplifying the deployment pipeline for machine learning models, enabling developers to move from development to production environments more efficiently. The platform supports various frameworks and use cases including LLM inference, image generation, and general machine learning tasks. Founded in 2021, Modal operates at the Seed stage with total funding of $20 million and a valuation of $0.1 billion. The company benefits from growing demand for accessible AI infrastructure as organizations scale machine learning workloads. Modal's customer base includes AI developers and teams building applications that require computational resources beyond typical cloud offerings. The competitive landscape remains fragmented, with multiple players addressing different aspects of AI infrastructure. Modal's growth trajectory reflects broader market expansion in AI tooling and infrastructure services. Modal addresses the infrastructure gap between AI research and production deployment by offering serverless computing optimized specifically for GPU-intensive machine learning workloads.

Groq got there first, launching in 2016 — that's 5 years of extra runway. Modal didn't arrive until 2021. In AI, that kind of head start means more training data, deeper customer relationships, and a bigger talent moat.

Groq has about 300 employees; Modal has about 30. A bigger team usually means more revenue or heavier VC backing, but in AI, small teams can build at massive scale.

Yes — they're direct rivals. Both Groq and Modal compete in AI Infrastructure, targeting many of the same buyers. If you're evaluating one, you should be looking at the other.