Petuum Inc. raised $108 million in venture capital funding after less than two years of operation, and now it’s testing the waters in Silicon Valley.
The Strip District-based artificial intelligence company announced Tuesday morning that it has opened a second office in Sunnyvale, Calif. — but Pittsburgh will remain home base for engineering.
CEO Eric Xing intends to hire about 50 people for the Sunnyvale office as the Pittsburgh location also experiences rapid growth.
Following an October infusion of $93 million in Series B venture capital funding from SoftBank, a Tokyo-based investment bank that has about 15 percent stake in Uber, the operation is adding its second office as an “exploration” into new territory, according to Mr. Xing.
He noted that, geographically, the AI landscape is “more accessible” in Silicon Valley and that an expansion into the region presents more opportunity to partner with other information technology companies or find potential clients.
Mr. Xing started the software company in 2016 to build a platform for artificial intelligence and machine learning that could be deployed in any industry or business, especially those that don’t currently employ the technology because they don’t have the means or want to build out a whole intelligent system.
He numbered current Pittsburgh employees at about 80 but noted about 20 more people will join the team in the next month. In total, Mr. Xing expects Petuum to grow to 200 employees between both offices by the end of the year.
The company is currently looking for a new Pittsburgh location because the staff has already outgrown its current space on Smallman Street.
Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG.
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First Published: February 20, 2018, 2:20 p.m.
