Seattle-based machine learning startup OctoML has big plans for its headcount growth after raising $85 million in a Series C round earlier this month.
Co-founder and CEO Luis Ceze said OctoML currently has almost 100 employees and plans to more than double that number over the next year. He added that the startup has a remote-first model but still has about half of its workforce here in the Seattle area.
"We go where the talent is, to be honest," Ceze said. "A lot of folks in our network are based in the Seattle region, but honestly we go wherever the talent is."
On its website, OctoML has open roles in engineering, product and sales.
OctoML was spawned from research that began at the University of Washington about five years ago, but the company incorporated in 2019. Its technology helps clients improve their machine learning models and automates the processes involved in getting the models ready to deploy.
The company raised a $28 million Series B round in March, and the goal at the time was to have OctoML's product, which is currently in early access, available by the end of the year. Ceze said OctoML's product is mature and gaining users, but the company doesn't have an exact date yet for its product's general availability.
Ceze said the company currently has office space downtown. OctoML has the space through the end of 2022, and where the company ends up after that is still up in the air.
In addition to running his startup, Ceze is a professor at the University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, where he has taught since 2007. Although he's not teaching this semester, he plans to teach in the spring. Ceze said his research is closely related to what OctoML is doing, and he credited his teams at both the university and the startup with allowing him to pursue both paths.
OctoML's Series C round included big-name investors like Tiger Global Management and Madrona Venture Group. Tiger Global has invested in fast-growing startups in the Seattle area like Karat, Amperity and Highspot, all of which are now worth at least $1 billion. Ceze said Tiger Global was already aware of OctoML when the startup spoke with the investment firm.
"As you work with great investors, and we execute well, they tell folks in their investor network about us," Ceze said. "I'm sure that was a factor."
