Pakistani-origin entrepreneur Ovais Tariq is making a significant mark in Silicon Valley’s fast-evolving cloud computing landscape. His U.S.-based startup, Tigris Data, has raised $25 million in Series A funding to build the next generation of data storage systems designed for artificial intelligence workloads. The investment marks a major milestone for a founder whose journey began in Karachi’s local IT scene and has now reached the global stage of cloud innovation.
Tigris Data was co-founded by Ovais Tariq, along with Himank Chaudhary as Chief Technology Officer and Yevgeniy Firsov as Chief Architect. The startup aims to challenge dominant players in the cloud ecosystem such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. According to TechCrunch, the Series A round was led by Spark Capital with participation from existing investor Andreessen Horowitz, further validating Tigris Data’s ambitious vision and technological edge.
Tariq, who previously led cloud infrastructure at Uber, explained that modern artificial intelligence workloads are moving toward distributed computing, a shift that requires a parallel evolution in how data is stored and accessed. He emphasized that compute and storage must align geographically for optimal performance, noting, “Modern AI workloads and AI infrastructure are choosing distributed computing instead of big cloud. We want to provide the same option for storage, because without storage, compute is nothing.”
Built by the same engineering team that developed Uber’s internal storage systems, Tigris Data offers an AI-native data storage solution that automatically moves information closer to GPUs. This capability supports billions of small files and ensures low-latency access for AI training and inference processes—crucial for companies building advanced models for image, voice, and video generation.
Tariq’s vision directly challenges what he calls the inefficiencies of centralized cloud architecture. He highlighted that current models often burden companies with high “egress fees,” a cost incurred when transferring data across platforms. These fees, sometimes referred to as the “cloud tax,” are one of the pain points Tigris aims to eliminate by decentralizing data storage and optimizing it for speed and cost efficiency.
Tigris Data currently serves more than 4,000 customers, primarily AI-focused startups, and operates data centers in Virginia, Chicago, and San Jose. The company plans to expand into London, Frankfurt, and Singapore to meet global demand. Since its founding in November 2021, Tigris has recorded an eightfold annual growth rate, reflecting the growing need for AI-ready infrastructure across industries.
Tariq’s journey to this achievement is a story of persistence and vision. Born and raised in Karachi, he studied computer science at the University of Karachi and began his career as a software engineer in a local IT firm. Later, he joined a Singapore-based database company before moving to the United States, where he took charge of cloud infrastructure at Uber. After leaving Uber in 2021, he founded Tigris Data at a time when cloud computing costs and scalability challenges were becoming major bottlenecks for AI development.
Those who know Tariq describe him as a founder who has always dreamed of creating something global. His rise from Pakistan’s software industry to leading one of Silicon Valley’s most promising infrastructure startups highlights the immense potential within Pakistan’s tech talent pool. Tigris Data’s success underscores how Pakistani innovators, when connected to the right ecosystem and opportunities, can compete and excel on a global scale.
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