Cognition

Cognition (Cognition AI, Inc.) develops Devin, an AI agent that performs software engineering tasks, along with DeepWiki and Devin Desktop, the IDE formerly called Windsurf. It was founded in August 2023 in San Francisco by Scott Wu (CEO), Steven Hao (CTO) and Walden Yan (CPO), all gold medalists at the International Olympiad in Informatics. Devin was first shown in March 2024. Enterprise customers named by the company include Goldman Sachs, Citi, NVIDIA, GE Aerospace, Mercedes-Benz, Ramp and Nubank.

Founders Fund backed the company first, investing $21 million in early 2024 at a $350 million valuation, then leading a $175 million round in April 2024 at $2 billion. In March 2025 8VC led a round at a $4 billion valuation. On September 8, 2025 Cognition raised more than $400 million at a $10.2 billion post-money valuation, led by Founders Fund with Lux Capital, 8VC, Neo, Elad Gil, Definition Capital and Swish VC returning and Bain Capital Ventures, Hanabi Capital and D1 Capital joining. On May 27, 2026 it raised more than $1 billion at $26 billion, led by Lux Capital, General Catalyst and 8VC, with Ribbit Capital, Atreides and Layer Global as new investors. On September 8, 2026 it announced a Series E of more than $2 billion at $48 billion, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Accel, with a long list of participants including Benchmark, Kleiner Perkins, Greylock, Lightspeed and T. Rowe Price.

In July 2025 Cognition signed a definitive agreement to acquire Windsurf after Google hired away Windsurf's chief executive. Cognition said the deal more than doubled its combined ARR, with under 5% customer overlap. Devin's ARR grew from $1 million in September 2024 to $73 million in June 2025. Run-rate revenue reached $492 million by May 2026, almost $900 million by September 2026, and on September 25, 2026 the company said it had crossed $1 billion. It reported total net burn under $20 million across its history as of September 2025.

Cognition shows how quickly valuation can compound in AI applications: from $350 million to $48 billion in roughly two and a half years. Founders Fund entered at the earliest priced round and has participated through the Series E, while later leads such as 8VC, Lux, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz and Accel paid progressively higher prices. The company remains private, so these marks have not yet been tested by a liquidity event.