# Cognition AI in talks for $40 billion valuation, 50% increase in three months

> Cognition AI, the startup behind the Devin coding agent, is reportedly already back in the market, in talks to raise more than 1 billion dollars at a valuation north of 40 billion. That would mark a roughly 50 percent jump from the 26 billion valuation it commanded just three months earlier in May, an unusually fast repricing even by current AI standards. The growth story behind the number is aggressive. Cognition's annualized revenue run rate is approaching 1 billion dollars, and the company has reportedly posted 50 percent month over month growth for six straight months, the kind of curve investors are willing to pay steep multiples to chase. Founded in 2023 by Scott Wu, Steven Hao, and Walden Yan, Cognition is betting that agents which write and ship code on their own will reshape software work. Whether a 40 billion dollar tag is visionary or frothy depends entirely on how much of that engineering automation actually holds up in production.

_Section: [AI Funding Tracker](https://www.wortins.com/funding) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Tuesday, August 18, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Cognition AI, the startup behind the Devin coding agent, is reportedly already back in the market, in talks to raise more than 1 billion dollars at a valuation north of 40 billion. That would mark a roughly 50 percent jump from the 26 billion valuation it commanded just three months earlier in May, an unusually fast repricing even by current AI standards. The growth story behind the number is aggressive. Cognition's annualized revenue run rate is approaching 1 billion dollars, and the company has reportedly posted 50 percent month over month growth for six straight months, the kind of curve investors are willing to pay steep multiples to chase. Founded in 2023 by Scott Wu, Steven Hao, and Walden Yan, Cognition is betting that agents which write and ship code on their own will reshape software work. Whether a 40 billion dollar tag is visionary or frothy depends entirely on how much of that engineering automation actually holds up in production.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/12/ai-coding-startup-cognition-reportedly-already-in-talks-to-raise-at-40b-valuation/)

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