AI startup raises $1B on $25B pre-funding

Cognition, the creator of an independent AI engineer called Devin, has raised more than $1 billion in a valuation of $25 billion ($26 billion), the company announced on Wednesday.

That’s a huge jump from its $10.2 billion post-money valuation when it closed $400 million round eight months ago in September.

The round was led by Lux Capital, General Catalyst and 8VC, with many funds present, including Elad Gil, Soma Capital, Omri Casspi, Founders Fund, and a long list of others. The round also included new investors such as Ribbit Capital, Atreides, and Layer Global.

This is a big vote of confidence from top VCs that there will be an independent startup space for AI software. Last year, all signs point to model makers swallowing this hot market. Certainly Anthropic’s Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex, and maybe even Google’s coding assistant Jules (later Windsurf rental for Google last year) caught more.

But Knowing, which acquired the remains of Windsurf last yearit reportedly counts major corporations like Mercedes-Benz, NASA, Goldman Sachs, and Santander as clients. It also says it has reached $492 million in annual revenue as business usage of Devin has grown 50% month over month for the past six months.

Note: This article has been edited to clarify that 8VC was the lead investor, to mention additional investors and to mention the value of the investment.