Baseten Eyes $1.5 Billion Funding Round as AI Inference Demand Surges

AI inference startup Baseten is reportedly close to securing a massive $1.5 billion funding round that would value the company at approximately $13 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The potential deal comes just five months after Baseten announced a $300 million Series E funding round at a $5 billion valuation. That raise itself followed a $150 million Series D completed only nine months earlier.

If the latest financing is completed, Baseten’s valuation will have increased by around 160% in less than six months. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that the fundraising is being structured as a split-priced round, an approach some startups use to boost their headline valuation while offering different pricing to different investors. According to the report, some participants are investing at a $13 billion valuation, while others are buying in at $11 billion. The round is reportedly being co-led by Spark Capital, Sands Capital, Altimeter Capital, and Wellington Management.

Founded in 2019, Baseten has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the growing demand for AI inference infrastructure. The company operates in what The Next Wave has described as the “inference gold rush,” where venture capital firms are investing heavily in businesses building the infrastructure that powers AI inference.

Inference is the stage in which an AI model processes a user’s prompt and generates a response. Baseten says its platform accelerates inference while keeping costs under control by intelligently routing requests to the most suitable AI model, including high-performing and lower-cost open-source alternatives whenever appropriate.