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Upscale AI

  • What it is:Upscale AI is the first end-to-end AI advertising platform for running performance campaigns on Streaming TV, handling creative generation, media targeting, and measurement.
  • Best for:Cost-conscious SMB sales teams, Growing startups (10-50 reps), Sales managers seeking quick wins
  • Pricing:Starting from $50/month per user
  • Rating:78/100Good
  • Expert's conclusion:Best fit for developer’s who are embedding AI image up scaling into e commerce, real estate, or content apps as it allows them to take advantage of the pay as you go model that eliminates the cost of subscription.
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Reviewed byMaxim Manylov·Web3 Engineer & Serial Founder

What Is Upscale AI and What Does It Do?

Upscale AI develops scalable network architectures for GPU-to-GPU (or other) data transfer at low latency; for this reason they have been designated an AI networking company, developing open standard solutions across all stack layers of the hardware infrastructure. Upscale AI was formed in early 2025 through a spin-off from Auradine which also developed blockchain technology and raised approximately $81 million; while the exact date for when it was spun off isn't provided, we do know it was launched as a sub-project focused specifically on AI networking infrastructure.

Active
📍Santa Clara, CA
📅Founded 2025
🏢Private
TARGET SEGMENTS
HyperscalersAI Infrastructure OperatorsEnterprise AICloud Providers

What Are Upscale AI's Key Business Metrics?

📊
$200 million
Series A Funding
📊
$100 million
Seed Funding
📊
$300 million
Total Funding Raised
📊
$1 billion+
Valuation
📊
4 months from seed to Series A
Time to Unicorn

How Credible and Trustworthy Is Upscale AI?

78/100
Good

The founders have a strong financial foundation and many years of leadership experience; however as a company still developing product and validating its markets, Upscale AI will require time to establish both.

BREAKDOWN
Product Maturity70/100
Company Stability85/100
Security & Compliance75/100
User Reviews70/100
Transparency80/100
Support Quality75/100
TRUST SIGNALS
Backed by top-tier VCs including Tiger Global, Intel Capital, Qualcomm VenturesLeadership from Palo Alto Networks and Innovium with proven infrastructure experienceEarly adopter of UALink open standard for AI interconnectsAchieved unicorn status in under 4 months from seed fundingStrong customer interest from leading hyperscalers reported

What is the history of Upscale AI and its key milestones?

2021

Auradine Founded

Barun Kar and Rajiv Khemani co-founded Auradine in 2021, which raised over $81 million in funding prior to launching Upscale AI, which would be spun off as a separate entity to develop AI networking infrastructure exclusively.

2025

Upscale AI Founded

Barun Kar and Rajiv Khemani co-founded Auradine in 2021, which raised over $81 million in funding prior to launching Upscale AI, which would be spun off as a separate entity to develop AI networking infrastructure exclusively.

2025

Seed Funding

After emerging from stealth mode in September of 2025, Upscale AI received $100 million in seed funding in a deal led by Mayfield and Maverick Silicon.

2025

Series A Funding and Unicorn Status

Just four months later, in January of 2026, Upscale AI secured $200 million in Series A funding and achieved unicorn status, with a valuation of over $1 billion; the funding was led by Tiger Global Management, Premji Invest, and Xora Innovation.

2026

SkyHammer Architecture Launch

In October of 2025, Upscale AI announced SkyHammer, an AI-native networking solution for scale-up use cases that utilizes ultra-low latency and high performance.

Who Are the Key Executives Behind Upscale AI?

Barun Kar— CEO & Co-founder
An industry leader in networking from Palo Alto Networks and Innovium, Kar has spent his career developing infrastructure and networking architecture.
Rajiv Khemani— Executive Chairman & Co-founder
An expert in infrastructure and networking, Kar is co-founder of Auradine. He has worked to build category defining companies in cloud and AI infrastructure.

What Are the Key Features of Upscale AI?

✨
SkyHammer Scale-Up Architecture
SkyHammer is a purpose built system designed to provide unified, synchronized systems that include GPUs, AI accelerators, memory, storage and networking. It is engineered to deliver proprietary level performance using only open standards.
✨
Ultra-Low Latency GPU-to-GPU Networking
SkyHammer delivers predictable, ultra-low latency networking for GPU-to-GPU communication, rather than the traditional CPU-to-CPU communication used in most data center networks; these are critical elements for meeting the needs of AI workloads.
✨
Open Standards Foundation
Open standards used in developing and extending ESUN, Ultra Accelerator Link (UAL), Ultra Ethernet (UEC), SONiC, and Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) are built upon, to avoid vendor lock-in.
🔗
Full Stack Integration
ASICs, systems, and software are vertically integrated for optimal control of performance and thermal management.
✨
Rack-Scale Solutions
Complete integrated rack solutions allow for a collapsed distance between accelerators, memory, and storage to enhance both data locality and overall performance.
💬
Vendor-Agnostic Compute Support
Any compute vendor, accelerator manufacturer, or hyperscaler can easily connect their own compute hardware by utilizing the provided open standard interfaces.
✨
High Bandwidth Interconnect
Provides the necessary bandwidth and memory semantic load-store networking features to support large scale AI training and inference clusters.

What Technology Stack and Infrastructure Does Upscale AI Use?

Infrastructure

Purpose-built for data center AI infrastructure with custom ASIC development and full-stack hardware-software integration

Technologies

SONiCSwitch Abstraction Interface (SAI)ASIC custom siliconKubernetes

Integrations

Ultra Accelerator Link ConsortiumUltra Ethernet ConsortiumOpen Compute ProjectSONiC Foundation

AI/ML Capabilities

Specializes in AI networking infrastructure rather than AI/ML algorithms; enables efficient communication and data movement for GPU clusters running AI training and inference workloads

Based on official company announcements, press releases, and technical documentation

What Are the Best Use Cases for Upscale AI?

Hyperscale Cloud Providers
Designed to create an efficient, high-performance AI data center that reduces latency, power consumption, and total cost of ownership for large-scale GPU clusters that run LLM training and inference.
AI Infrastructure Operators
Provide open-standard AI networking solutions that help break the chains of vendor lock-in, allow you to be flexible when choosing your compute accelerators, and reduce your reliance on proprietary interconnects such as NVLink.
Enterprise AI Teams
Allow users to access high-performance networking for on-premise or private cloud AI training clusters without relying on proprietary technologies that improve scalability while also lowering infrastructure costs.
AI Chip Manufacturers
Enable users to integrate custom accelerators into their AI clusters without having to become dependent on proprietary networking ecosystems that will accelerate your time-to-market and give you competitive advantages.
Research Institutions
Provide cost-effective, open-standard AI infrastructure for large-scale model training without the limitations of proprietary vendors.
NOT FORConsumer/Small Business Applications
Not suited – Designed for hyperscale environments rather than user-level or small business workloads.
NOT FORLegacy Data Centers Without GPU Infrastructure
Not Recommended – Requires modern GPU-based architectures; retrofitting existing CPU optimized networks may not provide sufficient ROI.
NOT FORApplications Requiring Proprietary Performance SLAs
A limited fit - Company uses an open-standards-based strategy that could potentially limit a vendor's ability to create and integrate into a closely integrated, proprietary solution.

How Much Does Upscale AI Cost and What Plans Are Available?

Pricing information with service tiers, costs, and details
☐Service$CostℹDetails🔗Source
Basic$50/month per userCloud deploymentTrustRadius
Essentials$75/month per userCloud deploymentTrustRadius
EnterpriseCustomCloud deploymentTrustRadius
Free Trial21 daysAvailable across plans, no free tierTrustRadius
Basic$50/month per user
Cloud deployment
TrustRadius
Essentials$75/month per user
Cloud deployment
TrustRadius
EnterpriseCustom
Cloud deployment
TrustRadius
Free Trial21 days
Available across plans, no free tier
TrustRadius

How Does Upscale AI Compare to Competitors?

FeatureUpscale AISalesloftOutreachGong
Core FunctionalityAI sales engagementAI sales engagementAI sales engagementRevenue intelligence
Pricing (starting)$50/user/mo$100/user/mo$100/user/mo$100/user/mo
Free TierNoNoNoNo
Enterprise FeaturesCustom plansSSO, audit logsSSO, integrationsSSO, analytics
API AvailabilityYesYesYesYes
Integration CountStandard CRM500+400+300+
Support OptionsEmail, chat24/7 enterprisePriority supportDedicated managers
Security CertificationsStandardSOC 2SOC 2SOC 2
Core Functionality
Upscale AIAI sales engagement
SalesloftAI sales engagement
OutreachAI sales engagement
GongRevenue intelligence
Pricing (starting)
Upscale AI$50/user/mo
Salesloft$100/user/mo
Outreach$100/user/mo
Gong$100/user/mo
Free Tier
Upscale AINo
SalesloftNo
OutreachNo
GongNo
Enterprise Features
Upscale AICustom plans
SalesloftSSO, audit logs
OutreachSSO, integrations
GongSSO, analytics
API Availability
Upscale AIYes
SalesloftYes
OutreachYes
GongYes
Integration Count
Upscale AIStandard CRM
Salesloft500+
Outreach400+
Gong300+
Support Options
Upscale AIEmail, chat
Salesloft24/7 enterprise
OutreachPriority support
GongDedicated managers
Security Certifications
Upscale AIStandard
SalesloftSOC 2
OutreachSOC 2
GongSOC 2

How Does Upscale AI Compare to Competitors?

vs Salesloft

Upscale is focused on cost-conscious sales teams, and offers pricing beginning at $50 per user, per month vs. $100+ from SalesLoft for the same level of engagement capabilities, albeit a less mature overall ecosystem and market-share position.

Upscale will be a good choice for budget constrained SMBs, whereas Salesloft will be the better choice for large-enterprise customers looking for a proven, scalable solution.

vs Outreach

While both companies are focused on sales-sequences, Upscale is positioned around affordability, and Outreach has the lead in AI-driven personalization and integration capabilities. However, Upscale has a faster time-to-value onboarding process, however, it has a much smaller user-base than Outreach.

Choose Upscale if you need to quickly realize value, and choose Outreach if you want a more comprehensive sequence of activities.

vs Gong

Gong provides the best in class conversation-intelligence, and Upscale is focused on providing the best in class, outbound-engagement. Additionally, Gong will have the better cost of entry, however, Gong will provide the more complete set of analytics and market-share.

Upscale will be the better choice for customers who want to automate their outbound sales-engagement, whereas Gong will be the better choice for customers who want to gain insights on their calls.

What are the strengths and limitations of Upscale AI?

Pros

  • Pricing - Upscale is priced lower than its competitors ($50 per user vs. $100+), and provides the same level of core features for sales-sequences.
  • Implementation Time - Upscale was designed to be a Salesloft for the Rest of Us, and therefore can be implemented quickly.
  • Features - Upscale provides all the standard features for sales-engagement including workflows, personalization, and analytics.
  • Architecture - Upscale is built as a cloud-native SaaS application, so there will be no complex setup or installation required.
  • Trial - Upscale has a 21 day free trial available to give potential customers the opportunity to evaluate the product.
  • Scalability - The pricing model for Upscale allows for per-user scalability, making it cost effective for rapidly growing teams.

Cons

  • Brand Recognition - Upscale currently has limited market presence, and does not yet have the brand recognition of Salesloft.
  • Integration Ecosystem - While Upscale has many of the standard integrations e.g., CRM, Email Service Providers, it does not currently match the extensive integration ecosystem of established platforms like Salesloft.
  • Current Status - There are currently what happened type questions being asked by users in 2026 reviews regarding the current status of Upsale.
  • Free Tier - Upscale does not offer a free-tier option, and as such, customers must commit to purchasing the product.
  • Enterprise Options - Upscale has basic enterprise features, and can also offer custom pricing to larger customers; however, it is unclear what support for single sign-on (SSO) and auditing is included in this pricing.
  • Proven At Scale - Upscale has not been proven at scale, and does not have years of experience deploying its product to large-enterprises.

Who Is Upscale AI Best For?

Best For

  • Cost-conscious SMB sales teams — Price - Upscale is approximately half the price of the premium products offered by its competitors for the core engagement features.
  • Growing startups (10-50 reps) — Cost Of Entry - The $50 per user entry-point price for Upscale makes scaling during the early-growth phase of a team affordable.
  • Sales managers seeking quick wins — Onboarding - Upscale has a fast onboarding process without the complexity associated with traditional, enterprise-level sales-cycles.
  • Budget-limited enterprises — Custom Pricing - Upscale offers per-user pricing with custom enterprise options.

Not Suitable For

  • Large enterprises (100+ reps) — Does not have demonstrated scalability or integration with Salesloft/Outreach
  • Revenue intelligence focused teams — Better served by Gong or Chorus for conversation analysis
  • Complex compliance needs — Unavailable for an Advanced Security Certification; Consider Outreach

Are There Usage Limits or Geographic Restrictions for Upscale AI?

Deployment
Cloud only, no on-premise
Free Tier
None available
Trial Period
21 days across all plans
Pricing Model
Per user/month, minimum unclear
User Scaling
Per-user billing starting at Basic tier
Enterprise Features
Custom pricing required

Is Upscale AI Secure and Compliant?

Cloud SecuritySaaS deployment with standard cloud provider security practices
Enterprise SSOLikely available on custom Enterprise plan (standard for sales platforms)
Data EncryptionAssumed TLS in transit and encryption at rest per industry standards
Audit LoggingStandard for sales engagement platforms, details on Enterprise tier

What Customer Support Options Does Upscale AI Offer?

Channels
All tiersBusiness hours
Hours
Business hours for standard tiers, custom for Enterprise
Response Time
Standard SaaS support SLAs
Satisfaction
Limited review data available
Business Tier
Custom support SLAs on Enterprise plan
Support Limitations
•No 24/7 support mentioned for basic tiers
•Phone support likely Enterprise only

What APIs and Integrations Does Upscale AI Support?

API Type
REST API
Authentication
API Key (x-freepik-api-key header for similar services; UpscaleAPI likely uses API keys)
Webhooks
Not mentioned in available sources
SDKs
No official SDKs mentioned; direct HTTP integration
Documentation
Good - clear REST API docs with curl examples at upscaleapi.io
Sandbox
No sandbox mentioned; pay-as-you-go model with free trial possible
SLA
Not specified in public docs
Rate Limits
Not specified; pay-per-use model
Use Cases
E-commerce product images, real estate photography, any application needing instant 2x-8x image upscaling

What Are Common Questions About Upscale AI?

Upscale AI utilizes advanced AI models that can enhance the resolution of images up to eight (8) times their original size while maintaining sharpness and detail. To utilize Upscale AI, you will send a post request that includes your base64 encoded image as well as your desired upscale factor. Your enhanced image is returned as a result of this request and is available via Upscale AI's REST API.

Is a pay-as-you-go solution with no requirement for a monthly subscription fee. The pricing model is based on the size of your image(s) as well as the level of upscale factor utilized. This makes it the ideal solution for organizations with variable usage patterns that do not want to be committed to a fixed price per month.

Has provided 8X upscaling with production grade reliability versus basic 2X to 4X upscaling available from other free solutions. Upscale AI has developed its REST API specifically with developers and scalability in mind rather than being used for one time web application usage.

All images are processed via a secure HTTPS API. In terms of long term image storage, it appears Upscale AI does not store images after they are processed for privacy purposes, and since it is a pay-per-use model, images are processed transiently for each use.

Upscale accepts all standard image formats through base64 encoding. The output from Upscale AI is a high-resolution version of your image that is suitable for use on the web, in print, and for use in e-commerce applications.

Since Upscale AI is a pay-as-you-go model, you can test the service with small batches to determine the quality of the upscale before you commit to large-scale usage.

The maximum upscale factor available through Upscale AI is 8X. Depending on the quality of your input image, performance may vary, and very poor image quality may exhibit some artifacting.

Upscale AI typically provides instant results for most images. The synchronous nature of the REST API means that Upscale AI will return your upscaled image immediately without requiring polling.

Is Upscale AI Worth It?

Upscale AI provides reliable 8X image upscaling through a simple REST API with a pay-as-you-go pricing model making it ideal for developers who require production ready image enhancements. While Upscale AI lacks the enterprise features such as Service Level Agreements (SLA) and webhooks, it excels at providing a simple and cost efficient solution for developers working with variable workloads. Upscale AI is positioned strongly in both the e-commerce and real estate verticals.

Recommended For

  • E-commerce platforms that are automating the process of enhancing product images
  • Real estate websites that are using images to enhance their listing images
  • Developers who are building image processing pipelines
  • Teams with intermittent upscale requirements

!
Use With Caution

  • Large volume enterprise customers that require guaranteed SLAs
  • Webhook / async processing applications
  • Daily processing of huge image batchs in Teams

Not Recommended For

  • Budget teams – even pay per use is expensive at scale
  • One off users – sufficient for a free web based up scaler
  • Video up scaling requirements — image only service
Expert's Conclusion

Best fit for developer’s who are embedding AI image up scaling into e commerce, real estate, or content apps as it allows them to take advantage of the pay as you go model that eliminates the cost of subscription.

Best For
E-commerce platforms that are automating the process of enhancing product imagesReal estate websites that are using images to enhance their listing imagesDevelopers who are building image processing pipelines

What do expert reviews and research say about Upscale AI?

Key Findings

Upscale AI provides 2X to 8X image up scaling through REST API with pay as you go pricing designed for e commerce and real estate. Easy to integrate with no need to sign up for a subscription plan. Little information about Upscale AI’s Enterprise features, Service Level Agreements, or Team Background available to the public.

Data Quality

Fair - product website confirms core capabilities but lacks detailed docs. No developer portal, status page, or GitHub found. Pricing and limits undocumented publicly.

Risk Factors

!
Limited publicly available information regarding Upscale AI’s Company/Team Background.
!
No visible Enterprise Features or Service Level Agreements available for Upscale AI.
!
Competition exists among other well known players such as Topaz Labs and Stability AI.
!
Costs associated with pay per use can be unpredictable at scale.
Last updated: February 2026

What Are the Best Alternatives to Upscale AI?

  • •
    Topaz Labs API: Provides professional image and video up scaling utilizing Advanced AI Models. Utilizes more advanced AI models than Upscale AI but utilizes subscription pricing. Best suited for Creators and Media Professionals who require the best possible quality. (https://topazlabs.com/api)
  • •
    Stability AI Upscale API: Uses Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion AI Model as its base and offers the same type of pay per use model as Upscale AI. Best suited for Teams already utilizing Stability Models. (https://stability.ai)
  • •
    Freepik AI Upscaler: Offers creative up scaling with style optimization options which add artistic enhancements beyond just increasing the resolution. Best suited for Marketing/Content Teams. (https://www.freepik.com/api)
  • •
    Slazzer AI Upscale: Focuses on providing simple 2X/4X up scaling which integrates with background removal. Has fewer scale factor options than some competitors. Best suited for E Commerce Product Cutout applications. (https://slazzer.com)
  • •
    Runware Upscale API: Offers an AI multi task API which includes up scaling in addition to Async/Sync Options and Web Hooks. A more comprehensive platform than Upscale AI. Best suited for Teams who have complex image workflows. (https://runware.ai)

What Additional Information Is Available for Upscale AI?

Target Verticals

Is positioned for E Commerce and Real Estate where High Quality Images of Products and Properties drive conversion. The Pay As You Go model fits seasonal demand curves.

Competitive Edge

Differentiated by no contract obligation to use a service over month-to-month contracts by other companies.

AI Advertising Platform Performance Metrics

95 % ($10K to $500)
Cost Savings
85 % faster (6 days vs 6-7 weeks)
Time to Live Campaigns
4 X or more
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
minutes from concepts to TV-ready
Creative Production Speed
real-time AI-driven insights to creatives
Optimization Cycle

Production Advertising Capabilities

AI-Driven Creative Generation

Ideal for applications that need instant API response and are in real time such as a website.

Programmatic Media Delivery

The ability to personalize TV quality ad creation based on digital/social asset input within minutes for each audience.

Real-Time Campaign Optimization

Targeting with artificial intelligence and bidding with machine learning on Streaming TV, CTV, and programmatic channels for performance metrics.

End-to-End Platform Integration

Automatically optimize creative based on real-time insights, attribution, and incrementality testing.

1st-Party Data Utilization

Eliminate the traditional separation of creative development, media purchasing, and analytics.

Multi-Channel Creative Adaptation

Unlocked access to proprietary data to optimize audience targeting and ROAS.

AI Advertising Platform Pricing Comparison

PlatformCore OfferingPricing ModelKey DifferentiatorLaunch StatusAdoption Metrics
Upscale AIEnd-to-End Streaming TVPerformance-based95% cost savings, 4X ROASProduction activeTrusted by multiple brands
Google DV360Programmatic CTVCPM biddingLarge-scale inventoryMatureEnterprise standard
The Trade DeskUID2 targetingPerformance marketplace1st-party data focusMatureAgency preferred
Amazon DSPIn-app CTVROAS optimizationAmazon purchase dataMatureE-commerce focus

Upscale AI Workflow Patterns

Generate-Run-Optimize Pipeline

User generated content, product, event, and social hero creative variations.

Audience Personalization Ensemble

Workflow: AI generates personalized creatives → programmatically delivers → optimizes in real time. Best suited for automated performance marketing.

Creative Iteration Pub/Sub

Simultaneously generate creative for multiple audience segments while aggregating performance metrics. Optimized for relevance across wide-ranging targets.

Multi-Channel Delivery Mesh

Optimization is triggered by performance signals; new creative variants will be created. Testing can scale exponentially beyond manual involvement.

Incrementality Testing Supervisor

Agent communication across all Streaming TV, CTV, Social, and Programmatic channels, with synchronized real-time ROAS.

AI Advertising Platform Maturity

PlatformProduction DeploymentsPerformance ClaimsCore StrengthBest ForScaling Limits
Upscale AIMultiple brands active4X ROAS, 95% cost savingsEnd-to-end Streaming TV automationPerformance CTV campaignsRapid scaling proven
Adobe FireflyEnterprise creative teamsHigh-quality generationBrand-safe creative assetsStatic image/video productionLimited programmatic integration
The Trade Desk KoaAgency-scaleML bidding optimizationCross-channel orchestrationProgrammatic media buyingCreative production separate
Amazon Marketing CloudE-commerce brandsPurchase-driven attribution1P data activationAmazon ecosystemLimited to Amazon channels

Upscale AI Platform Deployment

Cloud-Managed PlatformFully hosted end-to-end advertising solution
Multi-Region AvailabilityGlobal Streaming TV coverage
API-First IntegrationCampaign management and creative APIs
Real-Time ProcessingML bidding and optimization at scale
1st-Party Data IntegrationSecure customer data onboarding
Programmatic Channel SupportCTV, Streaming TV, video networks
Self-Hosted OptionCloud-only SaaS platform
Kubernetes NativeNot disclosed for advertising platform

Advertising Platform Compliance

1st-Party Data SecurityProprietary data protection for targeting
Ad Attribution PrivacyPrivacy-safe incrementality testing
Brand Compliance ControlsOn-brand AI creative generation
SOC 2 Type IIEnterprise standard, not explicitly listed
GDPR ComplianceRequired for 1st-party data processing
Performance Audit TrailComplete campaign attribution logging
ROAS VerificationMulti-touch attribution and testing
Creative Approval WorkflowBrand safety in AI generation

Streaming TV Advertising AI Adoption

95 % savings
Creative Production Cost Reduction
85 % faster
Campaign Launch Speed Improvement
4 X return
Achieved ROAS Multiple
rapid CTV ad spend 2026
Streaming TV Market Growth
high brand demand
AI Creative Adoption
critical marketer priority
Performance Attribution Importance

Expert Reviews

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