Cerebrium, a rising force in the artificial intelligence infrastructure space, has secured $8.5 million in a seed funding round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture arm. The round also included backing from Y Combinator and Authentic Ventures, signaling strong confidence in Cerebrium’s serverless platform that enables engineers to easily build, scale, and deploy multimodal AI applications.
Co-founded by South Africans Michael Louis and Jonathan Irwin in Cape Town, and now headquartered in New York, Cerebrium has made waves by offering a unique infrastructure layer that powers real-time, data-diverse AI experiences. The company is positioning itself as a critical enabler for next-generation applications that process not only text but also images, audio, and video in real-time.
At the heart of Cerebrium’s innovation is its serverless AI infrastructure. Unlike traditional setups that require complex provisioning, Cerebrium’s architecture allows clients to spin up CPU and GPU resources on demand—only paying for the compute time used. This flexibility is particularly appealing for volatile, high-performance workloads common in AI use cases like real-time avatars, voice assistants, and healthcare applications.
“Specialized infrastructure that scales elastically will be essential as real-time AI becomes core to customer experiences,” said Gradient Ventures partner Eylul Kayin. That prediction is already playing out: Cerebrium is powering multimodal AI workloads for clients like Tavus, a personalized video content platform, and Deepgram, a leading voice AI provider. The company currently operates with a lean engineering team of four but is already generating millions in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
The $8.5 million injection will be used to accelerate hiring, expand Cerebrium’s technical capabilities, and meet rising demand from enterprise clients. It will also support the development of new features and the company’s geographic expansion, particularly in the U.S. market where Cerebrium is now focused.
Cerebrium’s story reflects a broader trend: the globalization of African tech talent and innovation. Louis, who previously founded e-commerce platform OneCart (acquired by Walmart-owned Massmart), conceived the idea for Cerebrium after facing challenges with machine learning infrastructure while building AI features at his previous company. His experience highlighted a major gap in accessible, scalable AI back-end infrastructure—one that Cerebrium is now filling.
The company’s rise also comes amid a global surge in AI funding. According to PitchBook, AI startups attracted over $84 billion in venture capital in 2024 alone. As technologies like ChatGPT normalize AI in everyday tools, the demand for flexible infrastructure is booming. Startups like StackAI and Artisan are capitalizing on the agentic AI wave with multimillion-dollar rounds. Cerebrium, however, differentiates itself by focusing on making backend AI infrastructure simple, serverless, and instantly deployable.
Being accepted into Y Combinator and now securing backing from Gradient Ventures, Cerebrium has cemented its position as a global player born from African innovation. Authentic Ventures’ participation further expands the startup’s network and access to Silicon Valley expertise, boosting its potential for long-term growth.
“Our mission is to empower developers to create AI solutions that are not only powerful but also easy to deploy and scale,” said CEO Michael Louis. “We’re building the tools that make cutting-edge AI practical for real-world use.”
As the company grows, Cerebrium’s trajectory highlights a larger narrative: African-founded tech companies are no longer just catching up—they are building globally competitive solutions. With a growing list of high-profile clients and a product that resonates with real-world enterprise needs, Cerebrium is proving that AI infrastructure doesn’t have to be complicated—it just has to work.
