CIQ Startup Program Delivers High-Performance AI Infrastructure to Early-Stage Innovators

VC-backed AI startups gain free access to battle-tested infrastructure from the team behind Rocky Linux, plus up to 24 months of discounts

RENO, Nev., Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CIQ, the founding support partner of Rocky Linux and provider of high-performance software infrastructure for AI and HPC workloads, today launched the CIQ Startup Program. Eligible startups get six months free, then up to 80% off CIQ's AI infrastructure stack for up to two years.

Designed for VC-backed startups from seed through Series C, the program prioritizes companies running production AI workloads, building performance-intensive applications, or preparing to enter regulated markets.

Through the CIQ Startup Program, startups can deploy and scale CIQ's stack for AI workloads, which includes:

• Rocky Linux from CIQ – AI (RLC-AI): Enterprise Linux pre-optimized for AI workloads delivers an average 10% throughput improvement over standard Ubuntu in inferencing workloads. RLC-AI includes integrated frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face, ONNX), immediate accelerator support and kernel-level optimizations that eliminate weeks of manual configuration.
• CIQ Fuzzball: Container-first orchestration platform that enables startups to dramatically scale AI pipeline throughput while accelerating deployment across cloud, on-prem and hybrid environments without requiring deep HPC expertise.
• Rocky Linux from CIQ – Hardened (RLC-H): Ready-to-deploy hardened images that unlock access to federal and government sectors by meeting compliance standards including FIPS 140-3, CIS and DISA STIG out of the box.
• Direct engineering support: Architecture design, performance tuning and deployment guidance from CIQ's team.

"Infrastructure complexity shouldn't slow down innovation," said Bjorn Hovland, president of CIQ. "The CIQ Startup Program gives early-stage companies access to the same battle-tested stack that enterprises and research institutions depend on, without the enterprise costs. We're a startup too, we understand what it takes to move fast and scale smart."

Startups in the program have reported significant improvements in deployment speed and infrastructure efficiency. "CIQ's Fuzzball gives us the ability to implement and scale these pipelines for 100x the throughput in a fraction of the time," said Claire Seibold, director of software & data analytics at FYR Bio.

Eligible startups can apply at ciq.com/startups or contact [email protected].

About CIQ

CIQ delivers secure and performant software infrastructure for AI, HPC and modern workloads. As the founding support partner of Rocky Linux, CIQ provides enterprise-grade solutions including Rocky Linux variants, Fuzzball orchestration, Warewulf Pro cluster management and Ascender Pro automation. For more information, visit http://ciq.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Cristin Connelly
Cathey.co for CIQ
[email protected]

SOURCE CIQ