AI inference company Baseten is reportedly finalizing a $1.5 billion funding round, raising its valuation to $13 billion just months after a $300 million round.
Baseten, an artificial intelligence inference startup, is reportedly on the verge of concluding a $1.5 billion funding round, which would elevate its valuation to an impressive $13 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. This funding round follows a $300 million Series E that the company secured just five months ago, which valued the startup at $5 billion. That Series E round came only nine months after Baseten raised $150 million in its Series D funding.
If the current funding round is completed as anticipated, it would mark a significant 160% increase in Baseten's valuation in less than six months. However, the Wall Street Journal has noted that this latest round is a split-priced arrangement, a strategy that some startups are employing to enhance their perceived valuation and to present favorable figures for lead investors. Reports indicate that some participants in this funding round are valuing the company at $13 billion, while others are assessing it at $11 billion, according to sources cited by the Journal.
Founded in 2019, Baseten is capitalizing on what has been termed the "inference gold rush," a trend where venture capitalists are investing heavily in companies focused on developing the inference layer of AI technology. Inference refers to the processes that occur after a user inputs a prompt into an AI model. Baseten aims to provide efficient inference services while managing costs effectively by directing requests to the most suitable models, particularly favoring competent and lower-cost open-source alternatives.
