Baseten raises $1.5B at $13B valuation months after $300M round
Original: AI inference startup Baseten reportedly raising $1.5B months after its last mega-round
Why This Matters
Reflects continued venture capital competition in the booming AI inference sector, with major firms investing heavily in infrastructure layer startups.
AI inference startup Baseten is finalizing a $1.5 billion funding round at a $13 billion valuation, just five months after raising $300 million at $5 billion, according to Wall Street Journal reporting on June 18, 2026.
Baseten, an AI inference company founded in 2019, is close to completing a $1.5 billion Series F funding round at a $13 billion valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported. This represents a 160% valuation increase in less than six months, following the company's $300 million Series E round announced five months prior at a $5 billion valuation. The company had previously raised $150 million in Series D funding nine months before the Series E. The funding round is being co-led by Spark Capital, Sands Capital, Altimeter Capital, and Wellington Management. However, the WSJ notes this is a split-priced round, with some investors entering at the $13 billion valuation while others come in at $11 billion. Baseten operates in the AI inference space, handling the computational work that occurs after users submit prompts to AI models. The company's approach involves routing requests to the most cost-effective and appropriate models, including open-source alternatives, to optimize speed and control costs.