Pipeshift secures USD $2.5m for AI efficiency boost

AI infrastructure startup Pipeshift has announced a successful seed funding round of USD $2.5 million for its modular platform designed to enhance AI deployment efficiency.

Pipeshift's newly introduced Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) aims to address the complexities enterprises face when deploying open-source AI models.

The company claims its platform can make AI deployment 30 times more efficient. Enterprises can utilise this platform to train, deploy, and scale various AI models across cloud-based or on-premise GPUs.

Arko Chattopadhyay, Co-Founder and CEO of Pipeshift, stated, "2025 marks the year when GenAI transitions into production and engineering teams are witnessing the benefits of using open-source models in-house.

This offers high levels of privacy and control alongside enhanced performance and lower costs. However, this is a complex and expensive process involving multiple components being stitched together." Chattopadhyay further commented, "Pipeshift's enterprise-grade orchestration platform eradicates the need for such extensive engineering investments by not only simplifying deployment but also maximizing the production throughput."

Rahul Agarwalla, Managing Partner of SenseAI Ventures, echoed these sentiments, saying, "Enterprises prefer open-source GenAI for the benefits of privacy, model ownership, and lower costs. However, transitioning GenAI to production remains a complex and expensive process requiring multiple components to be stitched." Agarwalla added, "Pipeshift's enterprise-grade orchestration platform eliminates the need for such extensive engineering investments by not only simplifying deployment but also maximizing the production throughput."

The funding round was led by Y Combinator and SenseAI Ventures, with participation from various venture capital firms and investors, including Arka Venture Labs and Silicon Valley angels such as Kulveer Taggar and Umur Cubukcu. Commenting on the investment, Yash Hemaraj, Founding Partner at Arka Venture Labs and General Partner at BGV, said, "We invested in Pipeshift because their innovative platform addresses a critical need in enterprise AI adoption, enabling seamless deployment of open-source language models."

"The founding team's deep technical expertise and track record in scaling AI solutions impressed us immensely. Pipeshift's vision aligns perfectly with our focus on transformative Enterprise AI companies, particularly those bridging the US-India tech corridor, making them an ideal fit for our portfolio."

Pipeshift's platform accommodates the current trend of enterprises utilising open-source AI models. Anu Mangaly, Director of Software Engineering at NetApp, appreciated Pipeshift's technological capabilities, stating, "Pipeshift's ability to orchestrate existing GPUs to deliver >500 tokens/second for models like Llama 3.1 8B without any compression or quantization of the LLM is extremely impressive, allowing businesses to reduce their compute footprint and costs in production, while delivering enhanced user experiences that are also private and secure."

She also emphasized, "At NetApp, we understood the enterprise need for a single data fabric across cloud, on-prem, and hybrid set up. Pipeshift's orchestration allows for enterprises to unlock the same potential from the new generation of AI models all within their infrastructure."

The founding team at Pipeshift, including Arko Chattopadhyay, Enrique Ferrao, and Pranav Reddy, has been dedicated to refining AI model deployment for over a year.

The team previously worked on scaling a Llama2-powered enterprise search application, which prompted them to explore further optimisations at Pipeshift.

With plans to become a trusted partner in AI development and currently working with over 30 enterprises, including NetApp, Pipeshift is positioned to support organisations striving for AI integration while maintaining stringent control over infrastructure and data.