SmartGateVC leads pre-seed round with Grovf
We are excited to announce our investment in Grovf, a SaaS to accelerate any Java Virtual Machine (VJM) software 10x.
Grovf is SaaS to offload computing needs of JVM based software to FPGAs. Think of it this way. If you need to rent 10 server nodes in the cloud to run your operations, now you need only 1 node with plugged in Grovf solution.
“During the last two years, we were developing a deep technological product. We have validated our technology and the market. The pre-seed round will be used for technical hiring and engaging first early adopters in the US market. Grovf Java Virtual machine accelerator SaaS will be introduced in Q1 2019 on Amazon Web Services infrastructure and Xilinx Alveo boards” said Khachik Sahakyan, the CEO and co-founder of Grovf.
“The computing power of nowadays systems no longer meets the desired requirements of today's businesses. Here at Grovf we change the paradigm of computing systems from CPU centric to heterogeneous CPU-FPGA pairs while keeping the programming methodology as easy as it was for conventional systems. Just imagine that you can run your Java written software without any changes 10-100x faster, by using our Java Virtual Machine (JVM). We achieved this by offloading the JVM library functions to bare hardware (FPGA). Simple idea, hard implementation. It took us 2 years of intensive R&D and now we have patent pending technology and unique knowledge to go farther and offer our customers the solution they were waiting for,” said Artavazd Khachatryan, the CTO and co-founder of Grovf.
“Startups are very often a game of knowledge. Good startups know something that others in their domain don’t, and they try to take as much advantage out of this knowledge as market allows and will allow in the future. Grovf is one of such startups. Khachik and Artavazd started a research 2-3 years ago, which a lot of people around were considering too technical, too nerdy. Today they accelerate databases, one of the cornerstones of nowadays internet. They do it better than any existing alternative. The secret sauce, of course, is their proprietary technology, a result of laser-focused deep R&D,” said Hambardzum Kaghketsyan, Partner at SmartGateVC.
“Excited to work with Grovf’s team. It’s disruptive IP, flexible business model, and apparently right product timing brings cutting edge innovation to meet the exponentially growing need for computing,” said Ashot Arzumanyan, Partner at SmartGateVC.
“We see strong potential in accelerating data-intensive applications around JVM stack and exited to work with the team,” said Vazgen Hakobjanyan, Founding Advisor at SmartGateVC.
The pre-seed round is led by SmartGateVC. Seasoned entrepreneurs and executives from the US, along with Armenia-based Granatus Ventures are among the investors. The company’s R&D was previously supported by two competitive innovation grants from the European Union amounting to $120k.
Grovf is looking for FPGA developers. Interested professionals are welcome to apply from all over the world to become part of the cutting-edge innovation being created in Grovf.
Starting from February Grovf will launch student/intern training program for FPGA developers. Students interested in hardware-software interaction, low-level programming, and electronics are encouraged to apply to this course by February 1. To do so you can send an email to astghik.an@grovf.com with your short CV.
Stay tuned, more and more amazing news is yet to come! SmartGateVC is building a portfolio of companies to be proud of.
About SmartGateVC
Backed by Tim Draper and seasoned tech entrepreneurs, SmartGateVC is a venture capital firm targeting companies in Artificial Intelligence, Security and Internet of Things.
