Sacramento Inno Awards Selects Blaize CEO Dinakar Munagala for Innovator of the Year

Sacramento Business Journal honors CEO of leading edge AI processing company

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Sacramento Inno Awards has recognized Blaize CEO Dinakar Munagala as Innovator of the Year.

The Sacramento Inno Awards, organized by the Sacramento Business Journal, recognize innovation within the Sacramento region and the remarkable individuals and organizations behind these initiatives. In addition to receiving the Innovator of the Year award, Blaize was honored with the title of #1 Most Funded Company after securing $106 million in funding earlier this year.

At the 2024 Sacramento Inno Awards ceremony on November 14, 2024, an expert panel discussed the future of AI and innovation in the Sacramento region. The panel featured Dinakar Munagala, CEO of Blaize; Shweta Gandhi, CEO of Strived; and Brian Raymond, CEO of Unstructured.

“The Sacramento region has a wealth of individuals and organizations at the forefront of driving innovation and moving our economy forward,” said Dinakar Munagala, CEO of Blaize. “It is an honor to receive this recognition alongside other incredible individuals and companies. I look forward to future discussions about the important role of the Sacramento region in the AI and innovation economy, as well as how the region will benefit from breakthroughs in this new AI technology.”

Munagala, co-founder and CEO of Blaize, brings over 22 years of experience successfully leading global teams building graphics chips and has been recognized for technical excellence, new initiatives, and a results-focused approach.

About Blaize

Blaize provides a full-stack programmable processor architecture suite and low-code/no-code software platform that enables AI processing solutions for high-performance computing at the network’s edge and in the data center. Blaize solutions deliver real-time insights and decision-making capabilities at low power consumption, high efficiency, minimal size, and low cost. Blaize has raised over $330 million from strategic investors such as DENSO, Mercedes-Benz AG, Magna, and Samsung and financial investors such as Franklin Templeton, Temasek, GGV, Bess Ventures, BurTech LP LLC, Rizvi Traverse, and Ava Investors. Headquartered in El Dorado Hills (CA), Blaize has more than 200 employees worldwide with teams in San Jose (CA), Cary (NC), and subsidiaries in Hyderabad (India), Leeds and Kings Langley (UK), and Abu Dhabi (UAE).

About the Sacramento Inno Awards (Sacramento Business Journal)

The 2024 Sacramento Inno Awards program, recognizes the area’s vibrant innovation community — from startups to established companies — and their breakthrough creations. The program is organized by the Sacramento Business Journal.