WEKA reached unicorn status after raising its Series E at a $1.6B valuation
WekaIO (WEKA) has reached unicorn status after it closed an oversubscribed two-part $140 million Series E led by Valor Equity Partners, an existing investor, and supported solely by other returning investors. The Series E brought WEKA's post-money valuation to $1.6 billion.
WekaIO (WEKA) has successfully closed an oversubscribed $140 million Series E funding round comprising two transactions led by existing investor Valor Equity Partners. The negotiation of this deal also includes the incorporation of Valor founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer, Antonio Gracias, to WEKA's board. The company's Series E is notable because it helped WEKA obtain unicorn status by bringing its post-money valuation to $1.6 billion. Moreover, the round was raised in its entirety with the participation of existing investors. Generation Investment Management, NVIDIA, Atreides Management, 10D, Hitachi Ventures, Ibex Investors, Key1 Capital, Lumir Ventures, MoreTech Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures are all returning investors who participated in the current funding round.
The raised funds will bolster WEKA's cash reserves, providing much-needed flexibility to its scaling options to meet the fast-growing customer demand for AI-native data infrastructure. Augmenting the cash reserves will also enable the company to offer stronger positions to its investors without excessive share dilution for its employees. WEKA's CFO Intekhab Nazeer highlighted the remarkable nature of the demand driving WEKA's growth, as generative AI and enterprise cloud adoption have driven several eight-figure ARR deals; an unexpected feat for a software-based business.
In addition to welcoming Antonio Gracias to the WEKA board, WEKA cofounder and CEO Liran Zvibel commented on how the continued support of the company's investors confirms that WEKA is building a truly innovative platform delivering urgent solutions for modern data-driven organizations. Antonio Gracias also commanded WEKA's pioneering approach to data management, which has led the company to run over 300 of the world’s largest AI and GPU deployments. Gracias also spoke to Valor's vast experience investing in the acceleration of AI, starting with its 2013 investment in DeepMind and the shared excitement arising from the opportunity to support WEKA "through its next phase of growth and beyond."
