Weka Becomes A Unicorn With Big $140M Series E

Weka locked up a $140 million Series E — raised in both a primary and secondary transaction — that values the data platform at $1.6 billion.

The valuation is more than double what the company was last valued at after a $135 million Series D led by Generation Investment Management in late 2022. At the time, it was reported the Campbell, California-based startup had a $750 million valuation after the raise.

The new round was led by Valor Equity Partners.

Weka helps companies move data between sources faster and more efficiently — something mandatory for companies building AI projects — and can manage a large range of data sources, types and sizes

“The recent acceleration of generative AI and enterprise cloud adoption has triggered a sharp increase in customer demand, driving an unprecedented number of eight-figure ARR deals — an impressive feat when you factor in that Weka is a software-based business,” said Weka CFO Intekhab Nazeer. “It was an opportune time to fortify our cash reserves, allowing our investors to increase their position in the company while minimizing share dilution for our employees.”

Founded in 2013, Weka has now raised $375 million, according to Crunchbase.

Building AI infrastructure

While most people like to concentrate on the newest AI tool to help generate emails or mimic their own voice, investors are looking at much of the architecture underneath generative AI that makes it work.

In February, Lambda hit unicorn status after a $320 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company offers cloud computing services and hardware for training artificial intelligence software. The startup is a provider of Nvidia’s latest GPUs, which are highly sought after by AI developers.

Just earlier this month, AI cloud infrastructure startup CoreWeave locked up a $1.1 billion round led by Coatue that values the company at $19 billion, per The Wall Street Journal. The valuation represents an almost threefold increase from the company’s valuation just five months ago, when it was valued at $7 billion following a secondary sale, and a huge jump from its $2 billion valuation in a Series B extension last May.