Cast AI, a startup focused on optimizing AI workloads and cloud efficiency, has raised a significant $108 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at nearly $900 million post-money. The round, co-led by G2 Venture Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, underscores the growing demand for efficient AI resource allocation and Cast AI's strong growth trajectory.

The funding will be used to further develop Cast AI's automation platform, which helps organizations optimize their cloud and on-premise capacity to achieve the optimal cost-performance ratio for distributing compute workloads. The company's technology has already been adopted by over 2,100 customers, including prominent names like Akamai, BMW, FICO, HuggingFace, NielsenIQ, and Swisscom.

Cast AI's CEO and co-founder, Yuri Frayman, emphasized the importance of efficient resource allocation in the AI landscape, stating, "It's all about GPU, compute, and electricity. Our play is to ensure that we create efficiency, to be able to promote more workloads across GPUs. That is what we are about." The company's research suggests that, on average, only 10% of CPUs and 23% of memory are utilized, highlighting the need for better resource allocation.

The Series C round also marks a significant milestone for Cast AI, which has now raised a total of over $194 million in funding. The company's valuation has more than tripled since its last funding round in November 2023, when it was valued at $300 million post-money.

Cast AI's strong growth is attributed to its ability to integrate with all major cloud providers and its focus on Kubernetes applications. The company's founders, who have a background in finance and software development, initially built Cast AI to address the resource struggles they faced with their previous cloud-based cybersecurity startup, Zenedge.

The startup's involvement in the AI ecosystem is also noteworthy, with partnerships with companies like Crusoe Energy, OpenAI, and SoftBank. Cast AI is part of the large project between OpenAI and SoftBank to build services in Japan, and its technology is being used to facilitate efficiency in SoftBank's AI data centers.

Investors are bullish on Cast AI's prospects, with Tim Yap, investment director at SoftBank Investment Advisers, stating, "Cast AI is setting a new standard for cloud efficiency at a time when infrastructure demands are surging." Carl Fritjofsson, general partner at Creandum, added, "Cast was an AI agent before we started talking about that technology, you know. They've just been building this type of automation for a long time."

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, Cast AI's focus on efficient resource allocation and cloud optimization is poised to play a critical role in shaping the industry's future. With its latest funding round, the company is well-positioned to expand its platform and further establish itself as a leader in the AI workload optimization space.