AfterQuery, an artificial intelligence training data startup, has reportedly raised a new funding round that values the company at $3.2 billion. The reported valuation, first shared by Forbes, represents an increase of more than ten times from the $300 million valuation the company disclosed in April alongside a $30 million Series A. The sharp rise underscores how quickly demand for expert human reasoning data has become central to the artificial intelligence industry.
A Record Pace from Y Combinator
Y Combinator partner Gustaf Alströmer said AfterQuery reached unicorn status faster than any startup in the accelerator's history. The company's founders participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 cohort only 18 months ago, making the trajectory especially striking. The San Francisco-based startup moved from its Series A announcement to a reported multibillion-dollar valuation in roughly five months.
Founders and Company Origins
AfterQuery was founded in February 2025 by Spencer Mateega and Carlos Georgescu, who are now 23 and 22 years old. The company initially explored building AI agents for finance before shifting its focus to professional workflow data. Its website also lists Danny Tang as a founder, while Y Combinator's profile names Mateega as chief executive officer and Georgescu as chief technology officer.
A Different Approach to AI Training Data
Unlike conventional data labeling providers, AfterQuery recruits doctors, lawyers, software engineers, and finance specialists to produce training material and reinforcement learning environments. The company focuses on capturing how experienced professionals reason through difficult problems and complete real-world tasks, rather than simply improving answer accuracy. It describes the process as encoding the patterns, decisions, and reasoning of the world's best practitioners.
Revenue and Customer Momentum
In April, AfterQuery stated that its annualized revenue run rate had surpassed $100 million. Founder Spencer Mateega later posted on social media that recurring revenue had reached the hundreds of millions, according to Forbes. Disclosed customers include Nvidia, Legora, and South Korean AI lab Motif Technologies, and Forbes reported that the company has also worked with Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati.
A Broader Race for Expert Data
AfterQuery is part of a new group of data companies following the path set by Mercor and Scale AI. Mercor has commanded large valuations as AI labs seek skilled human feedback, while Scale AI became a core supplier to model builders and received an investment from Meta at a reported $29 billion valuation. Frontier labs now need specialized data for reasoning, coding, law, medicine, finance, and enterprise work.
Investor Backing and Market Pressure
The company's April Series A was led by Altos Ventures, with participation from The Raine Group, Y Combinator, BoxGroup, and Latitude Capital. Investor appetite reflects a private AI market where rapid revenue growth can justify valuations that appear aggressive by traditional software standards. At the same time, large customers could squeeze prices, switch suppliers, or build internal data teams once the process becomes clearer.
The reported $3.2 billion valuation reflects both AfterQuery's rapid commercial traction and the broader scramble for high-quality expert data. While questions about contract durability and long-term margins remain, the company's customer list and revenue pace provide meaningful momentum. For now, AfterQuery illustrates how human expertise has become a scarce and increasingly valuable input in advanced artificial intelligence development.