Israeli startup Deci, which develops a deep learning platform to help enterprises create and launch AI, announced the closing of a $21 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by one of the more active VCs in the Israeli tech ecosystem: Insight Partners. The round also saw participation from Samsung Next, Vintage Partners, Jibe Ventures, and Fort Ross Ventures.

ML, AI, NLP, Deep Learning...

Deci leverages ML to automate build and optimization of neural networks, making them more efficient and suitable for large-scale immediate operation. According to the company, the use of its deep learning platform allows ML developers to achieve performance improvements of up to ten times the models built per task, whether it is computer vision, NLP or audio.

In practice, Deci's platform uses AI technologies to redesign neural networks and maximize their runtime performance - while maintaining a high level of accuracy. This way you can achieve better performance on any hardware, including standard processors, GPU and FPGA accelerators, as well as dedicated artificial intelligence chips for end devices and mobile devices.

"Amidst an increase in the adoption of deep learning models, shortening time to market and increasing the success rate in production is becoming critical as more and more enterprises look to commercialize their deep learning-based solutions. Deci's end-to-end deep learning development platform has a proven track record of empowering the world's leading AI teams with the tools they need to create, optimize and successfully deploy innovative AI solutions," said Yonatan Geifman, CEO and co-founder of Deci.

Lonne Jaffe, Managing Director at Insight Partners, will join the Board of Directors at Deci. “Deci is at the forefront of AI and deep learning acceleration, with highly differentiated technology that lets customers optimize blazingly fast deep learning models for inference tuned to any hardware platform,” said Jaffe. “We are delighted to be part of Deci’s ScaleUp journey and look forward to supporting the company’s rapid growth.”

Deci was co-founded by deep learning expert Dr. Yonatan Geifman, tech entrepreneur Jonathan Elial, and computer science professor Ran El-Yaniv. Exactly one year ago, the company announced a $9.1 Seed round, led by Emerge and Square Peg. The newly funded capital will help Deci accelerate tech development, support global growth and double its roster.