Show Notes
Modal gives AI startups the computing power they need to run their products, and a safe way to run code their AI writes on its own. Its revenue has grown 5x this year and is now closing in on $1bn annually, backed by a recent $355m raise to keep up with demand.Erik Bernhardsson is CEO at Modal. He's certain AI startups will keep needing more computing power than anyone expects, and that demand is contributing to Modal's growth.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeuropeLovable: https://lovable.dev/Parloa: https://www.parloa.com/Conveo: https://conveo.ai/NatWest: https://www.natwest.com/WWT: https://www.wwt.com/Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction0:21 - What Modal does0:57 - Modal's $355m round and revenue growth1:51 - How Modal forecasts and buys computing power ahead of demand3:40 - Why most of Modal's growth comes from AI-native startups7:04 - Modal's biggest use cases: inference, sandboxes and coding models9:07 - The shift toward cheaper Chinese and open-source AI models12:21 - Modal's expansion into London and Stockholm19:44 - What Erik learned building Spotify that he's applied at Modal23:14 - The one part of the job Erik still can't delegate27:19 - Why Erik expects capital efficiency to matter again33:32 - Modal's path to $1bn in annual revenue
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