SC Launch invests $400K in Columbia’s Qwerky AI

SC Launch Inc., the investment affiliate of the South Carolina Research Authority, has announced a $400,000 investment in Qwerky AI.

The Columbia-based startup that focuses on making large artificial intelligence models more efficient and affordable. The company intends to address challenges of rising computational costs, high energy use, and infrastructure limitations that can force enterprises to choose between performance and affordability as large models scale, according to a news release from SCRA.

“Qwerky AI reflects the kind of transformative, forward-thinking innovation we are proud to support,” SCRA Chief Program Officer Lee Macllwinen said in the news release. “Their approach to AI development puts usability and trust at the forefront — values that align closely with our mission.”

Qwerky AI became an SCRA member company in August 2025 and an SC Launch Inc. portfolio company with this investment.

“Qwerky AI has built strong protected IP, ranging from individual proprietary processes to a family of custom models. They have made a ton of progress, and have been accepted into the NVIDIA Inception Program, the NVIDIA DGX Cloud Innovation Lab, and the Microsoft for Startup Program,” Javon Jones, SCRA senior investment associate, said in the release. “By lowering costs without degrading model performance, Qwerky AI not only stands at the forefront of the global efficiency race but also fuels AI talent development and deep-tech innovation within South Carolina’s emerging technology corridor.”

Qwerky AI opened its headquarters last summer and says it has made significant strides in large language model optimization. The company recently announced a partnership with Inbox Beverage Inc. with a challenge to revolutionize the container and beverage industry with an AI-powered design platform that uses more efficient, faster models.

“We’re thankful to SCRA and SC Launch Inc. for partnering with us as we help make AI more accessible to organizations,” said Qwerky AI co-founder and CEO Chris Thibault. “Our enterprise AI scales businesses without scaling their budgets, making AI more trustworthy and efficient for companies. Our platform helps organizations work more efficiently across decision-making, communication and automation.”