Together AI closed an $800 million Series C round on Tuesday, lifting its valuation to more than $8 billion, according to the company. The financing, led by Aramco Ventures, also featured Vista Equity Partners, General Catalyst, Emergence Capital, Nvidia, March Capital, Pegatron and SentinelOne’s S Ventures. Together AI, which runs an open‑source AI cloud platform, said the infusion will be used to broaden its compute infrastructure and speed development of its proprietary inference engine.

Usage of open‑source models on the platform has reportedly tripled over the past year, data from OpenRouter shows. The company now generates over $1 billion in annual bookings, a milestone it highlighted alongside the funding news. Customers span a range of AI‑focused firms, including Cursor, the code‑generation tool; Cognition, creator of the Devin AI software engineer; and Decagon, an AI‑driven customer‑support startup.

Founded in 2022, Together AI positions itself between hyperscalers and developers seeking alternatives to closed‑source offerings from OpenAI or Anthropic. Its differentiator is a software layer that bundles compute with inference‑optimization tools, which the firm claims can reduce the cost of running popular models by up to 80 percent. That software moat, rather than raw hardware alone, is intended to protect the startup from the massive capital outlays of cloud giants.

The latest round follows a rapid financing trajectory. In February 2025, the company raised $305 million in a Series B at a roughly $3 billion valuation, led by General Catalyst and Prosperity7, the venture arm of Aramco. Prior to that, a $102 million Series A closed in November 2023, backed by Kleiner Perkins. Industry observers had reported in March that the firm was courting a $1 billion raise at a valuation near $7.5 billion, making the $800 million close a significant step up.

Leadership brings deep technical pedigree. Co‑founder and CEO Vipul Ved Prakash previously built Topsy, the social‑analytics company Apple acquired in 2013 for more than $200 million. Co‑founders Percy Liang, a Stanford computer‑science professor, and Ce Zhang, who has held positions at ETH Zurich and the University of Chicago, add academic heft and research connections.

The funding surge comes amid a broader wave of capital flowing into AI infrastructure. Upscale AI secured a $190 million extension in June, taking its total to $500 million at a $2 billion valuation. TensorWave, which builds its cloud on AMD chips, raised $350 million in a Series B at a valuation near $1.5 billion. Together AI’s open‑source focus sets it apart from rivals like Groq and RunPod, which primarily rent raw GPU capacity.

Aramco Ventures’ lead role signals growing Middle Eastern interest in the underpinnings of artificial intelligence, not just the models themselves. The question now is whether Together AI’s software‑enhanced offering can scale against the hyperscalers, which continue to pour hundreds of billions into AI compute capabilities.

With the new capital, Together AI aims to broaden its global compute footprint, deepen its inference‑engine technology, and solidify its position as a cost‑effective alternative for developers seeking open‑source AI solutions.

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