Nexthop AI launches with $110 mn in funding led by Lightspeed Venture

Nexthop AI, the company building the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for cloud companies, launched from stealth today with $110 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Additional investors include Kleiner Perkins, WestBridge Capital, Battery Ventures, and Emergent Ventures.

 

This funding will accelerate the development of Nexthop AI's networking solutions for cloud and hyperscale AI clusters.

 

To facilitate the staggering scale requirements of AI training and inference, hyperscalers are spending billions in evolving their GPU and networking deployments with upwards of two gigawatts of capacity annually. These companies also require highly optimised hardware and software infrastructure tunable for data centre build-outs.

 

“The world’s largest cloud providers need a new generation of networking capabilities to keep pace with the demands of AI workloads,” said Guru Chahal, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “Nexthop AI is filling a critical gap in this $35 billion market with its deep domain expertise, pioneering technology, and customised solutions, positioning the company as the go-to partner for leading cloud providers seeking to seize the AI revolution,” he added.

 

Nexthop AI specialises in building custom networking solutions for the hyperscalers, which integrate seamlessly into their cloud stack. This includes building networking hardware designed to each customer’s specifications, a network operating system of their choice tested by Nexthop AI, along with pre-tested optical and electrical interconnects from the customer’s diverse supply chain.

 

“Hyperscalers need the ecosystem to innovate with them to accelerate their infrastructure deployments,” said Anshul Sadana, chief executive officer, Nexthop AI. “Nexthop AI is a force multiplier, as it partners with and works as an extension of the cloud companies’ engineering teams. This disruptive model enables cloud companies to build the most cost- and power-efficient AI solutions.”

 

The network has historically played a critical role in underpinning each wave of technology innovation, including mainframe to PC, client-server to cloud, and now the AI wave. Nexthop AI’s products work with open-source network operating systems, such as SONiC.