AI inference firm Baseten is on the verge of completing a $1.5 billion financing round that would place its valuation at roughly $13 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company announced a $300 million Series E at a $5 billion valuation just five months earlier, following a $150 million Series D nine months prior.
If the deal closes, the valuation would have jumped about 160 % in under six months. The WSJ notes the round is being split‑priced—a strategy some startups use to inflate headline valuations and showcase lead investors favorably. Sources say some participants are investing at a $13 billion valuation, while others are pricing at $11 billion. The round is reportedly co‑led by Spark Capital, Sands Capital, Altimeter Capital, and Wellington Management.
Founded in 2019, Baseten is a beneficiary of what The Next Wave calls the “inference gold rush,” where venture capital is flowing into companies that specialize in the inference layer—the stage where models generate results after a user’s prompt. Baseten aims to accelerate inference while reducing costs by routing requests to the most suitable model, often leveraging efficient, lower‑cost open‑source alternatives.
