Featherless.ai, a fast-growing platform focused on running open-source artificial intelligence (AI), has secured $20 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by AMD Ventures and Airbus Ventures, with support from Kickstart Ventures, BMW i Ventures, Panache Ventures, and Wavemaker Ventures.
The company plans to use the funding to grow its global infrastructure, launch a marketplace for specialized open AI models, and improve compatibility with different hardware systems to lower the cost of running AI.
Featherless.ai positions itself as an alternative to large cloud providers, offering businesses more control over their AI systems. CEO and co-founder Eugene Cheah said the goal is to help companies build AI on systems they own, rather than relying on a few dominant providers.
The platform currently supports over 30,000 open models across text, image, and audio applications, and operates as a neutral layer not tied to any single cloud or hardware provider. Its infrastructure is based in the United States and Europe, with teams working globally.
A key focus for the company is hardware flexibility. Through its collaboration with AMD, Featherless.ai enables open-source models to run on AMD’s ROCm software platform, offering a lower-cost alternative to proprietary systems.
Investors say the approach could help expand AI adoption, especially in regions like Southeast Asia, where cost remains a major barrier.
Featherless.ai also aims to prevent the rise of AI monopolies by keeping advanced models accessible outside closed ecosystems. Its founding team previously developed RWKV, an open-source AI architecture designed as an alternative to traditional transformer models.
The company says the investment marks a shift toward a more open AI ecosystem, where businesses can run their own models without being locked into a single provider.
