LLM testing service Inspeq secures $1.1M in funding to fuel international expansion

Irish full-stack AI Ops platform Inspeq has raised $1.1M in funding to enhance its Generative AI maintenance capabilities.

The platform empowers developers throughout the Gen AI development lifecycle, from testing and evaluation to monitoring, performance optimization, and guardrailing of B2B and Enterprise AI applications. With this funding, Inspeq AI aims to expand its team in Applied AI, Data Science, and Full Stack Development, while extending its operations in Ireland, London, and India.

Inspeq's platform addresses AI performance issues throughout the LLM development lifecycle, ensuring optimal safety and ethical compliance. It claims to reduce security and hallucination issues by up to 80%. The company's efforts have reportedly yielded a 90% improvement in the performance of LLMs.

This is achieved by providing developers with tools to test, evaluate, monitor, and optimize their AI applications. Inspeq's platform also includes features to help developers identify and mitigate potential risks, such as security vulnerabilities and ethical concerns. By addressing these issues early in the development process, Inspeq helps to ensure that LLMs are safe, reliable, and ethical.

The funding round is led by specialist AI investment firm Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Delta Partners. Other backers include Founders, a talent accelerator funded by NDRC, Plug and Play, as well as a number of leading angel investors. These include Ex-MD of Meta Ireland Rick Kelly, Ex-VP of Salesforce Cyril Treacy, Head of EMEA at Gong Shantanu Shekhar, Senior Director of Data & AI at BT UK Debjani Roy, Cork tech angels Bill and Leonard Lynch, and unicorn founders Gaurav Singh K.

The funding round was a bittersweet success for the company. While they were able to secure the funding they needed to continue their operations, they also had to lay off a number of employees due to the economic downturn. The layoffs were a difficult decision for the company, but they were necessary in order to ensure the long-term survival of the business.

CEO and Co-Founder of Inspeq AI, Apoorva Kumar commented: “Recent cases of production-grade Gen AI applications going wrong have highlighted the challenges businesses face in scaling Gen AI. By using Inspeq AI as an ops layer, businesses can overcome these bottlenecks, ensuring trust, safety, and ethical standards. We are thrilled to be working with significant enterprise companies globally, like HCL, helping them develop production-grade Gen AI applications that deliver immense benefits to their customers and stakeholders.

However, the journey has not been without its challenges. The recent economic downturn has forced us to make some difficult decisions, including layoffs. These decisions were not made lightly, and we are deeply saddened by the impact they have had on our employees. We are committed to supporting our employees during this transition and are providing them with severance packages, outplacement services, and other resources to help them find new opportunities.

Inspeq’s founders, Apoorva Kumar and Ramanujam Macharla Vijayakumar, previously worked at Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and LinkedIn in building and leading robust and scalable AI products. They left their high-paying jobs and comfortable lives to found Inspeq AI because they were passionate about using AI to solve real-world problems.

Inspeq AI has already made a significant impact in the AI industry. The company’s technology has been used to develop production-grade Gen AI applications for a variety of enterprise companies, including HCL. Inspeq AI is also working with a number of government agencies to develop AI solutions for social good.