HEAVY.AI
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Big Data Analytics, Visualization |
| Predecessor | MapD, OmniSci |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Todd Mostak, Thomas Graham |
| Headquarters | San Francisco , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Todd Mostak (Co-founder), Thomas Graham (Co-founder) |
| Products | Core database system (GPU-accelerated big data querying and visualization) |
| Website | heavy |
HEAVY.AI is a United States-based software enterprise focused on harnessing the power of graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) to efficiently query and visualize large-scale data sets. Established in 2013 by Todd Mostak and Thomas Graham, the company’s main office is located in San Francisco, California.
The firm delivers solutions that enhance the speed of big data analytics and visualization. Partnering with industry leaders such as Nvidia, HEAVY.AI builds infrastructure platforms that utilize multiple GPUs concurrently, achieving performance levels far beyond conventional CPU-only approaches.
Funding milestones include a Series A round in 2016, followed by Series B in 2017, and Series C in 2018.
History
HEAVY.AI was originally launched as MapD in 2013 by founders Todd Mostak and Thomas Graham. It serves a broad range of sectors, including governmental agencies and private enterprises.
Shortly after inception, the company introduced its primary product, the Core database system, which leverages GPU acceleration to enable swift big data querying and geospatial visualization. The idea stemmed from Mostak’s experience with sluggish query speeds at Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis.
Benchmark tests revealed that HEAVY.AI’s GPU-accelerated platform processes data between 75 to 3,500 times faster than traditional CPU systems. Following their $100,000 victory in an Nvidia competition, their technology was integrated with Nvidia’s GPU hardware capable of handling data throughput up to 750GB per second. Major corporations such as IBM have incorporated HEAVY.AI’s GPU-driven technology into their solutions.
Prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, HEAVY.AI created a visualization tool for political donations aimed at forecasting election results. In 2017, the company joined as a founding participant of the GPU Open Analytics Initiative.
In September 2018, the firm rebranded from MapD to OmniSci. Later, on March 1, 2022, OmniSci adopted the name Heavy.AI to underscore its commitment to cutting-edge analytics designed for rapid enterprise decision-making.
Funding
HEAVY.AI secured around $10 million during its Series A financing round in 2016, led by In-Q-Tel. Additional investors included Nvidia, Vanedge Capital, and Verizon Wireless. Nvidia’s involvement followed the company’s success at their GPU Ventures competition where HEAVY.AI earned $100,000.
The following year, in 2017, a Series B funding round brought in $25 million led by New Enterprise Associates, with continued backing from Nvidia and Verizon.
By October 2018, HEAVY.AI completed a $55 million Series C funding round spearheaded by Tiger Global Management, joined by prior investors such as In-Q-Tel, New Enterprise Associates, Vanedge Capital, Nvidia, and Verizon Ventures.