Mercor，一个连接AI实验室与领域专家的平台，成功完成3.5亿美元融资，公司估值达到100亿美元。本轮融资由Felicis Ventures领投，现有投资者Benchmark和General Catalyst以及新晋投资者Robinhood Ventures也参与其中。Mercor最初是一家AI招聘平台，后转型为提供专业领域专家（如科学家、医生、律师）进行AI模型训练的服务，并从中收取匹配费。公司还不断增加用于强化学习的软件基础设施，并计划最终建立一个AI驱动的招聘市场。Mercor的快速发展得益于AI领域的飞速进步以及其在连接人才与AI模型训练方面的独特优势。

🚀 Mercor已完成3.5亿美元的C轮融资，公司估值飙升至100亿美元，显示出市场对其连接AI实验室与领域专家以训练基础AI模型的模式的高度认可。本轮融资由Felicis Ventures领投，并获得了Benchmark、General Catalyst和Robinhood Ventures等知名机构的支持，进一步巩固了其在AI服务领域的领先地位。

💡 Mercor的业务模式经历了从AI招聘平台到专注于为AI模型训练提供专业领域专家的转型。通过汇聚科学家、医生、律师等高端人才，Mercor解决了AI模型训练中对特定领域知识深度和细微差别的需求，并在此基础上收取匹配费和服务费，展现了其敏锐的市场洞察力和灵活的战略调整能力。

📈 公司不仅提供人才匹配服务，还在不断增强用于强化学习的软件基础设施，这是一种通过反馈机制不断优化模型决策的训练方法。Mercor的长期目标是建立一个AI驱动的招聘市场，预示着其在自动化和智能化招聘领域的进一步布局和发展潜力。

💰 Mercor的快速崛起与AI领域的飞速发展以及对高质量数据和专业人才需求的激增密切相关。据报道，Mercor有望比Cursor的母公司Anysphere更快达到5亿美元的年经常性收入（ARR），这表明其商业模式的强大盈利能力和高效的增长速度。

Mercor, which connects AI labs with domain experts for training their foundational AI models, has raised $350 million at a $10 billion valuation, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.

Felicis Ventures, which led the company’s previous $100 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation, is also leading this round. Existing investors Benchmark and General Catalyst, and new investor Robinhood Ventures also participated.

TechCrunch reported in September that Mercor was in talks with investors to raise a Series C at a valuation of $10 billion, up from its target of $8 billion a few months prior. The company at the time told potential investors that it already had multiple offers.

Mercor started off as an AI-driven hiring platform, but quickly pivoted to providing companies with specialized domain experts to perform AI model training — such as scientists, doctors, and lawyers — and charging an hourly finder’s fee and matching rate for their work.

The company has also been adding more software infrastructure for reinforcement learning — a training method where a model’s or agent’s decisions are verified or disputed, enabling it to incorporate feedback and improve over time. The company intends to eventually build an AI-powered recruiting marketplace.

Mercor’s fortunes rose after leading AI labs like OpenAI and Google DeepMind reportedly cut ties with data-labeling startup Scale AI after Meta invested $14 billion in the data vendor and hired its CEO.

The company apparently told investors that it’s on track to hit $500 million in ARR faster than Anysphere, the startup behind Cursor, which famously hit the milestone roughly a year after launching its core product.

“Since we founded Mercor almost three years ago, AI has advanced at an astonishing pace. But it still struggles with the subtleties that drive economically valuable work—balancing trade-offs, understanding intent, developing taste, and deciding what should be done, not just what can be done,” the company wrote in a blog post emailed to TechCrunch.

The startup says it currently pays more than $1.5 million per day to its contractors. It has more than 30,000 experts on its roster, who it pays over $85 per hour on average.

Mercor said it will focus on three areas: expanding its talent network, improving its systems for matching its contractors with clients, and building new products to automate more of its processes.