Author: Ginny Hendricksen
Updated on: May 19, 2024
Jonathan Ross founded Groq in 2016 with a goal of making high performance AI available to everyone. Roughly 4 years later, the company raised its $150 million Series C funding round at a $1 billion valuation.
As of April 2024, 70,000 new developers are using GroqCloud for machine learning inference, and over 19,000 new apps are making use of Groq’s LPU. Groq has acquired Maxeler Technologies (2022) and more recently, Definitive Intelligence (2024). The company partners with BittWare, iqt, Poe, Cirrascale, VAPI, carahsoft.
It’s important to note in addition to Groq’s impressive growth and potential, that it operates in a crowded space with strong competition from NVIDIA, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Intel, Cerebras, Graphcore, etc.
NVIDIA has an overwhelming estimated market share of 80%. CEO Ross believes Groq’s speedier, more affordable chip will be readily adopted by startups in particular and help Groq gain market share.
Groq has broken records in the AI space with technology that can run chatbots faster than Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft’s GrokAI. For reference, the company claims Groq chips can run OpenAi’s chatbot ChatGPT 13 times faster than it does currently.
Groq is making chips with LPUs more suitable for AI language models as opposed to NVIDIA’s GPUs. GPUs are needed for training AI models, but LPUs reduce the time from inputs to making predictions or decisions (inference).
Yes. Groq is a private venture-backed company that has issued common stock as well as preferred stock Series A-C. Investors usually buy preferred stock and employees typically get common stock options or restricted stock units.
Venture capital giants such as Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners, Addition, Spruce House as well as Chamath Palihapitiya have invested in Groq.
Groq is not yet a publicly traded company on NASDAQ or NYSE stock exchanges. Groq’s stock will be associated with a stock symbol or ticker if/when it files to go public via an IPO, Direct Transfer, or SPAC.
Groq will be included in the stock ticker on Notice if it has recent private market activity.
Retail investors are not permitted to buy Groq stock directly while it is private, and its stock is not available through traditional brokerage accounts.
Those who wish to invest in the AI sector may buy shares of ETFs that hold a high percentage of AI stock, for example: the Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT), Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF (IGPT), or the Amplify AI Powered Equity ETF (AIEQ). Others may buy competitor and market leader NVIDIA’s (NVDA) stock.
Accredited investors are permitted to buy Groq stock pre-IPO. Private market transactions can be complex and often involve company approvals, legal purchase agreements and wires to third parties. Trades can take 30 - 60 days to complete and that's why many investors hire experienced private market brokers to ensure things go smoothly.
Groq is currently ranked #24 most active companies on Notice.co.
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As long as Groq remains privately-held, the company does not have to disclose financial information like public companies do. There are no publicly available recent reports of Groq’s revenue or expenses.
Becoming profitable is a major milestone that private companies tend to proudly announce. There isn’t enough data available to confirm whether it's profitable or not, but the lack of news on this topic suggests that Groq is not profitable yet.
Groq was last valued at $1.1 billion (post-money) in its 2021 Series C funding round which was more than double its Series A valuation of $44.27 million in 2016.
AI is the fastest growing industry of 2024, and because of Groq’s unique offering, the company is well positioned to enjoy steady growth.
Experts predict that total revenue from AI chips could reach $60 billion by 2025, and the total addressable market for AI chips has been estimated to reach $119.4B by 2027.
You can track Groq stock price live on the stock price chart, updated every 60 seconds, at the top of this page.
CEO Jonathan Ross has not made any comments about IPO plans. Typically technology companies that IPO successfully have been in operations for at least 10 years. It may be premature for the company to go public via an initial public offering.
It has been suggested that NVIDIA might acquire Groq, but neither company has officially confirmed this rumor. Groq is a challenger to NVIDIA and other significant AI semiconductor companies, so interest in Groq’s IPO date or acquisition is likely to increase in the coming years.