Mercor Reaches $10 Billion Valuation with $350 Million Series C

AI startup Mercor has raised $350 million in a Series C funding round valuing the company at $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The round was led by Felicis, with participation from existing investors Benchmark and General Catalyst, and new investor Robinhood Ventures.

Founded in 2023 by three college dropouts, Mercor connects domain experts such as scientists, doctors, and lawyers with AI labs to train and refine large models. The company manages around 30,000 contractors worldwide who perform tasks like labeling data, writing examples, and providing expert feedback to improve model performance.

Mercor pays its contractors over $1.5 million daily and averages more than $85 per hour per expert. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its network of specialists, enhance its matching systems between contractors and clients, and build tools to automate more of its operations.

The latest raise follows Mercor’s pivot from an AI-driven hiring platform to a provider of expert labor for AI training. The company has seen rapid growth after major AI labs reportedly reduced partnerships with data-labeling competitors earlier this year.