Baseten is close to finalizing a new round of funding. The WSJ reports that the AI inference company plans to raise $1.5 billion, bringing its post-money valuation to $13 billion.

If the deal goes through, it will be another significant valuation increase for Baseten in less than six months. The company just announced a $300 million Series E funding round five months ago, valuing the company at $5 billion; nine months prior, it completed a $150 million Series D funding round.

Valuation was revised upward in a short period of time.

According to reports, Baseten's valuation in this funding round is significantly higher than its previous one. The WSJ stated that some investors entered at a valuation of $13 billion, while others entered at a valuation of $11 billion.

This type of "tiered pricing" practice is emerging in some startup funding rounds. It can both inflate the apparent valuation of each round and make the lead investor's books look better.

List of lead investors revealed

The report indicates that the deal was co-led by Spark Capital, Sands Capital, Altimeter Capital, and Wellington Management.

Founded in 2019, Baseten focuses on AI inference infrastructure. The company's service completes model inference after users submit prompts and controls costs by routing requests.

Capital continues to flow into the reasoning layer

Baseten is benefiting from what's being called the "inference craze." A significant amount of venture capital is flowing into companies building inference layers, especially those offering solutions that balance speed and cost.

The company emphasizes that its system will allocate requests to models that are more suitable for the task, including cheaper open-source alternatives.