Startup AfterQuery reaches a valuation of 3.2 billion dollars; according to Y Combinator, it is the fastest path to unicorn status in the history of the accelerator
AI training data startup AfterQuery has reached a valuation of 3.2 billion dollars, according to Forbes, ten times its valuation in the April Series A round. Y Combinator calls it the fastest path to unicorn status in its history.
Startup AfterQuery, which focuses on training data for AI models, has raised a funding round that valued the company at 3.2 billion dollars, according to Forbes. According to Y Combinator accelerator partner Gustaf Alströmer, this is the fastest path from launch to a valuation of over a billion dollars in the history of the accelerator. The founders are now 22 and 23 years old and went through the Y Combinator program (Winter 2025 cohort) about 18 months ago.
The new valuation represents an increase of more than tenfold in less than six months — in April 2025, AftierQuery announced a Series A of 30 million dollars at a valuation of 300 million dollars. At the time, the company also said it had reached an annualized run rate of 100 million dollars and was working with a number of the largest AI labs. Among the customers it named were Nvidia, Legora and the Korean AI lab Motif Technologies.
AfterQuery is part of a new wave of startups following the example of Mercor and Scale AI, which hire experts such as doctors, lawyers and other specialists to train AI models. In contrast to an approach focused on answer accuracy, the company says it trains models and agents on how to carry out tasks in the manner of practicing experts — that is, on “capturing the patterns, decision-making and reasoning of the best practitioners in the world”. The sources were unable to immediately reach the company for comment.
Why it matters
For companies developing AI models and agents, this case illustrates a growing market of specialized training data suppliers built on the work of practicing experts, expanding the choice of suppliers alongside established companies Mercor and Scale AI. For individual experts in fields such as law or medicine, it suggests that paid opportunities exist to collaborate with such startups on capturing workflows for AI.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
The business model of AfterQuery is based on hiring experts (doctors, lawyers and other specialists) who capture workflows and decision-making during tasks for AI training — for these professions, this could be a source of paid collaboration.
For a business
Rapid growth in both valuation and revenue points to strong demand for specialized data for training AI agents; companies developing models have another competitive supplier available alongside Mercor and Scale AI, with documented customers such as Nvidia, Legora and Motif Technologies.
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