Cognition weighs funding at up to $80bn valuation, Business Insider reports

Cognition, the startup behind the AI coding agent Devin, has received investor offers that value it at $70bn to $80bn. The San Francisco company is seriously considering raising a new round before the end of the year.

Katie Roof reported the talks for Business Insider on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The talks are at an early stage and the terms could still change, according to the report. TNW has not independently verified it.

The offers come weeks after Cognition’s last round. On 8 September, it announced a Series E of more than $2bn at a $48bn valuation. Andreessen Horowitz and Accel led that round, with Founders Fund, General Catalyst and Avenir also investing.

In the same announcement, Cognition said its run-rate revenue had grown from $492m in May to almost $900m. Its valuation doubled in 15 weeks before that round.

Scott Wu, Steven Hao and Walden Yan founded the company in 2023. Cognition hired former Facebook and Yahoo security chief Alex Stamos as CISO in September.

Business Insider placed the offers within a wider rush to back AI coding startups. SpaceX made its $60bn Cursor takeover official in June, buying one of Cognition’s main rivals.

Earlier this month, the bosses of Cognition and rival Factory clashed publicly over an adviser’s exit, Bloomberg reported.

A round at $80bn would put Cognition’s valuation about two thirds above its September price.