JOHANNESBERG, April 10 – Refiant AI, a South Africa-founded startup focused on reducing the computational demands of artificial intelligence systems, has raised $5 million in seed funding to expand its platform and scale enterprise adoption.
The funding round was led by VoLo Earth Ventures, a US-based climate technology investor, as the company positions its model compression technology as an alternative to the growing reliance on energy-intensive data centre infrastructure.
Founded in 2025, Refiant AI develops tools that restructure and compress large AI models, allowing them to operate on smaller devices without significant loss in performance.
The company said it has successfully reduced a 120-billion-parameter model to run on a standard laptop with 12GB of RAM, compared to the typical requirement of at least 80GB, while retaining between 95% and 99% of its performance.
This approach comes as global technology firms ramp up investment in AI infrastructure. Companies including Meta and Microsoft have each committed nearly $50 billion to data centre expansion in the first quarter alone, contributing to over $700 billion in total lease commitments across the sector.
Refiant AI’s model aims to reduce that dependency by enabling AI systems to run locally, particularly in regions with limited computing infrastructure. The company said its technology could support sectors such as banking, telecommunications, and public services by lowering costs and reducing reliance on cloud-based systems.
Across Africa, where about 250 data centres account for just 0.6% of global capacity, the shift toward lighter AI models could ease infrastructure constraints while supporting wider adoption of advanced technologies.
The company said it is currently engaging with multinational firms to explore commercial applications of its platform.
