TechCrunch — AI · May 27, 2026 · 2 min read

AI coding startup Cognition raises $1B at $25B pre-money valuation

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In Brief

Posted:

9:00 AM PDT · May 27, 2026

Scott Wu, CEO of Cognition — **Image Credits:**Cognition

Julie Bort

AI coding startup Cognition raises $1B at $25B pre-money valuation

Cognition, the makers of the autonomous AI software engineer named Devin, has raised more than $1 billion at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, the company announced on Wednesday.

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

The round was led by Lux Capital and General Catalyst, with existing investors pouring in, including Founders Fund, 8VC, and others. The round also included new investors Ribbit Capital, Atreides, and Layer Global.

This is a giant vote of confidence from top-tier VCs that there will be room for independent AI software coding startups. Last year, all signs pointed to model makers swallowing this hot market themselves. Certainly Anthropic’s Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex, and maybe even Google’s coding agent Jules (after Google’s acqui-hire deal of Windsurf last year) have captured a lot of it.

But Cognition, which acquired the remaining bits of Windsurf last year, says it counts big enterprises like Mercedes-Benz, NASA, Goldman Sachs, and Santander as customers. It also says it’s reached $492 million in annualized revenue run-rate as enterprise usage of Devin has grown 50% month-over-month for the past six months.

Topics

AI, ai coding, cognition, Devin, Startups

May 27

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