Baseten Just Raised $1.5B at a $13B Valuation — But Not All Investors Are Paying the Same Price

Baseten, the AI inference startup founded in 2019, is reportedly close to finalizing a $1.5 billion funding round at a $13 billion valuation, according to the Wall Street Journal. This round comes just five months after its $300 million Series E at a $5 billion valuation — representing a 160% increase in valuation in under six months. The round is co-led by Spark Capital, Sands Capital, Altimeter Capital, and Wellington Management.

However, the round employs a split-priced structure: some investors are coming in at a $13 billion valuation, while others at $11 billion. This tactic allows the company to boast a higher headline valuation while offering better terms to certain investors. Baseten capitalizes on the "inference gold rush," routing AI model requests to the most efficient and cost-effective model — especially open-source alternatives — to keep inference fast and affordable.