By Newspot Nigeria Business Desk
San Francisco, USA — Mercor, a rapidly growing artificial intelligence talent and training platform, has reached a new valuation of $10 billion, making its 22-year-old cofounders some of the youngest self-made billionaires in the tech industry.
Founded in 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha, Mercor connects highly skilled white-collar professionals — including Ph.D. holders, lawyers, researchers, and quantitative analysts — to help train AI models for companies such as OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic. These contractors are hired to refine how AI systems interpret, respond, and reason in ways that resemble human judgment, with some earning as much as $200 per hour.
The company recently secured $350 million in new funding, led by Felicis Ventures, which pushed its valuation to $10 billion. The investment comes amid intensified competition in AI development and a shift in the data-training market following Meta’s acquisition of a 49% stake in rival firm Scale AI earlier this year. The move prompted several major AI labs to seek alternative training partners, accelerating Mercor’s growth.
Mercor’s revenue has climbed sharply over the past year, rising from an annualized run rate of $100 million to $500 million in six months. The startup now pays contractors an estimated $1.5 million daily and has expanded from fewer than 20 employees to over 300 across U.S. and international offices. Its headquarters now occupy three floors at 181 Fremont in San Francisco, a space previously used by Meta.
Foody said the company sees its role as part of a long transition period in which humans will continue teaching and shaping AI systems. While some analysts warn that the AI boom may be overheated, Mercor maintains that its model reflects the emergence of a new labor market built around training machine intelligence rather than replacing human work outright.
“We’re building what we think is the largest new category of work,” Foody said.
Mercor’s trajectory remains tightly linked to continued investment by leading AI research labs, a market that several industry leaders, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, have cautioned may be volatile. However, for now, the company sits at the center of one of the fastest-accelerating segments of the global tech economy.
