Modal

Modal offers a serverless compute platform aimed at addressing common pain points in AI infrastructure, including slow deployment times, high operational complexity, and inefficient cost structures. Built from scratch with a Rust-based backend, the platform supports rapid container launches, dynamic scaling, and GPU-intensive workloads. Modal targets developers and data teams in AI-driven industries, providing tools for model inference, fine-tuning, batch processing, and sandboxed execution, with pricing based on actual resource consumption. The company has raised $32 million as of April 2024, reports usage across more than 100 enterprise customers, and positions itself within a growing market for container-based AI infrastructure projected to reach over $96 billion by 2027. The opportunity for Modal going forward will rely on its ability to balance increasing demand for AI applications with potential compliance and security risks.