Artificial intelligence training startup Mercor has raised $750m in a Series D funding round, pushing its valuation to $20bn as investor interest in companies developing and improving AI systems continues to grow.
The San Francisco-based company announced the funding on Tuesday, November 10, saying the round attracted investment from Benchmark, Felicis, Fundomo, Nvidia and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo, among others.
The latest valuation represents a significant increase from the approximately $10bn Mercor was worth in October 2025, when it raised $350m in an earlier funding round.
Mercor, which initially operated as an AI-powered recruitment platform, has expanded its business to connect technology companies with subject-matter experts whose professional knowledge is used to train, test and improve artificial intelligence models and AI agents.
The company says it will use the new funding to expand its work on training and evaluating AI agents to perform professional tasks.
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Its co-chief executive officer, Brendan Foody, said the company believes businesses across different industries would increasingly need specialised AI agents capable of handling specific jobs.
“Every job in the economy will need its own AI agents and every company will need a way to train and evaluate them on its own work,” Foody said.
Mercor’s fundraising comes amid a surge in investment in artificial intelligence startups, with investors committing increasingly large sums to businesses developing AI infrastructure, applications and services.
Data from Crunchbase show that AI-driven startups raised $102bn in the third quarter of 2026, accounting for 64 per cent of global venture capital funding during the period.
The company is also backed by prominent technology and investment figures, including Jack Dorsey and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
Its latest funding round highlights growing investor interest in the infrastructure supporting AI development, particularly the human expertise and evaluation systems needed to train models and enable AI agents to carry out complex workplace tasks.
About the Author
Cecilia Attah is a tech analyst with a degree from Benue State University. She covers tech news and startups at TechRegard with a focus on how technology is transforming Africa and shaping the global landscape.
