Artificial intelligence data startup Snorkel AI has raised $350 million in fresh funding, taking its valuation to $3.5 billion as demand for specialised data to train increasingly sophisticated AI systems accelerates.
The funding round was led by Insight Partners and S32, with existing investors also participating. The new valuation marks a sharp increase from the $1.3 billion valuation recorded after the company’s previous major funding round.
Snorkel has increasingly moved beyond its original software-focused model to provide customised datasets and reinforcement-learning environments for AI developers. Its services help companies train and evaluate AI systems for complex tasks that require specialised knowledge.
The company works with human experts and AI models to produce data covering areas including coding, law and medicine, where generic training material may not be sufficient for advanced applications.
Snorkel said its annualised revenue run-rate has also climbed significantly, reflecting growing demand for high-quality training data as AI developers seek to improve model performance.
The latest investment is expected to support expansion of its research and engineering teams, as well as its enterprise and government operations.
The deal underscores the growing investment flowing into businesses supporting the AI industry beyond the companies developing the underlying models.
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