Wafer raises $40M in Series A to automate AI inference optimization

San Francisco-based startup Wafer has raised $40 million in a Series A funding round to scale its AI-driven inference optimization platform. The round was co-led by Marathon Management Partners and Chemistry, with participation from Wing Venture Capital, AMD Ventures, Outset Capital, Fifty Years, and Y Combinator.

Wafer develops AI agents that function as autonomous performance engineers. The platform is designed to automate the optimization of AI inference deployments by continuously profiling production workloads, diagnosing bottlenecks, and testing changes across model variants, inference engines, and hardware. This approach aims to address the rising costs of AI infrastructure by improving performance per dollar through continuous, automated evaluation rather than manual, one-time optimization processes.

Founded by University of Chicago alumni Emilio Andere and Steven Arellano, the company has reached approximately $8 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) with a small team of under 10 people. The Series A brings Wafer’s total funding to approximately $44.5 million.