Fireworks AI
Fireworks AI provides infrastructure for deploying open AI models, serving major companies like Uber and Doordash. The company has raised $1.8 billion and employs 309 people.
The growth story
Fireworks AI grew from 11 to 309 employees between 2022 and 2026, raising $1.8B along the way, most recently a Series D in July 2026.
About
Fireworks AI offers a cloud platform for deploying and optimizing open-source AI models, targeting enterprises needing high-performance AI workloads. Its infrastructure claims to deliver 15x faster speed and 4x lower latency compared to closed models.
The company has raised $1.8 billion, including a Series D round in 2026, and employs 309 people. Its client base includes Uber, Doordash, and Notion.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is Fireworks AI's largest function, with 47 employees. The company is led by a team with backing from top investors like AMD and Benchmark.
The Fireworks AI org chart
Lin Qiao (CEO and cofounder) leads 59 mapped leaders with 11 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 120 (+107% YoY), Sales 18 (+100% YoY), Business Development 18 (+64% YoY), Information Technology 12 (+300% YoY), Marketing 12 (+300% YoY), Human Resources 12 (+140% YoY).
Talent flow
Fireworks AI recruits heavily from Google, Meta, and Amazon Web Services, with 25, 22, and 22 hires respectively. Alumni often move to OpenAI, Meta, and Nebius.
Most common previous employers of Fireworks AI staff: Google (25), Meta (22), Amazon Web Services (AWS) (22), Twilio (17), Microsoft (15), Facebook (13). Former Fireworks AI employees most often moved to OpenAI (6), Meta (5), Nebius (3), Adobe (3), Thinking Machines Lab (2), Google (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The Fireworks AI mafia
Fireworks AI alumni have founded three companies, including Dome and TensorScale AI, which employ 5 and 4 people respectively.
3Marc Holmes, was Chief Marketing Officer until 2025Yun Tang, was Research Staff Member until 2026Nick Trombetta, was Chief Revenue Officer until 2025Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 47% direct, 40% search, 6% social, 1% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Fireworks AI: Python (Programming Language) (112), Java (86), Microsoft Excel (83), C++ (78), Leadership (77), SQL (74), Microsoft Office (69), Machine Learning (68).
Where the team actually sits
Fireworks AI people are concentrated in California, United States (89), San Francisco Bay Area (56), United States (19), New York, United States (18).
Search footprint
Fireworks AI attracts about 637 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $1K a month if bought through ads. It gained 403 ranking keywords and lost 253 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 3.40 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.60 / 5
- Senior management
- 3.30 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.10 / 5
Frequently asked
Fireworks AI has 309 employees as of September 2026.
Fireworks AI has raised $1.8B in total, most recently a Series D round in July 2026.
Fireworks AI was founded in 2022 by James Reed, Pawel Garbacki, Dmytro Dzhulgakov, Dmytro Ivchenko, Benny Yufei Chen.
Lin Qiao (CEO and cofounder) sits at the top of Fireworks AI's reporting structure, with 11 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Fireworks AI staff are Google (25 people), Meta (22 people), Amazon Web Services (AWS) (22 people).
Former Fireworks AI employees most often move to OpenAI (6), Meta (5), Nebius (3).
At least 3 companies have a founder who previously worked at Fireworks AI, including Dome, TensorScale AI, Nitro Growth.
Fireworks AI attracts about 637 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $1K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Fireworks AI staff are Python (Programming Language), Java, Microsoft Excel, C++, Leadership.
Fireworks AI staff are concentrated in California, United States (89), San Francisco Bay Area (56), United States (19).
Fireworks AI has about 120 people in Engineering, up 107% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Fireworks AI has about 18 people in Sales, up 100% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 235 current and 68 former Fireworks AI profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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