Modal envisions a future where cloud computing is seamlessly accessible to all developers, empowering them to innovate at scale without the burden of infrastructure management. Our mission is to transform how applications for data, AI, and machine learning are built and deployed by enabling rapid iteration and effortless scaling.
We are redefining cloud infrastructure with a foundational approach, crafting our own container platform, scheduler, and storage solutions that deliver unparalleled speed and efficiency. By automating containerization, autoscaling, and resource provisioning, Modal lets development teams focus entirely on building breakthrough technologies.
Our platform is designed to fuel the next generation of machine intelligence, supporting ambitious projects from generative AI to computational biotech. Through this, we are building the infrastructure that will power a future where limitless computational creativity is only a few lines of code away.
Our Review
A Fresh Take on Cloud Computing
We've seen countless cloud platforms come and go, but Modal's approach genuinely caught our attention. Founded by engineering veterans Erik Bernhardsson and Akshat Bubna, Modal isn't just another layer on top of existing cloud services – they've built their entire infrastructure from the ground up, including their own file system and container runtime. That's both ambitious and impressive.
Why Developers Are Taking Notice
What really stands out is Modal's laser focus on developer experience. Their platform lets you scale from zero to thousands of CPUs or GPUs with just a few lines of code. No more wrestling with complex infrastructure or paying for idle resources – you only pay for what you use, down to the second.
We're particularly impressed by how Modal handles the entire ML lifecycle. Whether you're running generative AI inference, fine-tuning LLMs, or processing massive datasets, the platform makes it feel surprisingly straightforward.
Growing Fast for Good Reason
The numbers tell an compelling story: Modal reached 8-figure revenue and tripled their headcount in just a few years. With over 100 enterprise customers including notable names like Ramp and Substack, they're clearly solving real problems for serious players.
Their recent $80M Series B round (bringing them to unicorn status) suggests we're not the only ones who see the potential here. The fact that they've attracted investment from technical founders like Tristan Handy (dbt) and Neha Narkhede (Confluent) speaks volumes about their technical credibility.
Who Should Consider Modal
If you're a developer or team working with AI, ML, or data-intensive applications, Modal deserves a serious look. Their serverless approach combined with their AWS partnership makes them particularly attractive for companies looking to scale AI applications without the traditional infrastructure headaches.
While they're still relatively young (founded in 2021), their rapid growth and strong technical foundation make them a compelling choice for organizations that need serious computing power without the operational complexity.
Features
Serverless cloud computing platform for AI and ML applications
Custom container platform and storage layer
Supports generative AI inference, LLM fine-tuning, biotech computation, media processing, batch processing
Web endpoints for deployment, job scheduling, Datadog and OpenTelemetry integrations
Collaborative Notebooks environment for interactive computing
Scalable from zero to thousands of CPUs/GPUs with few lines of code
Jobs
FAQs
Ploy was founded in 2024.
Customers rely on Modal for instant GPU access, sub-second container starts, and native storage, so it's simple to serve low-latency inference, fine-tune models, and access production-ready sandboxes at scale. Every era of computing came with new workloads that previous infrastructure couldn't serve: mainframes, databases, the cloud. Each time, the company that rebuilt the layer underneath defined the decade. AI is no different, except it touches everything instead of one slice. The window to build is open right now.
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