Modal Labs Raises $750M at $15.75B Valuation in AI Infrastructure

By Daniel Okafor

AI infrastructure provider Modal Labs raised $750 million in a Series D round led by Accel at a $15.75 billion valuation, the largest U.S. startup financing announced in the week of Oct. 10-16, 2026. The New York-based company said it recently exceeded an annual revenue run rate of $1 billion.

The round anchors a week in which investors scaled back on giant deals. Only two financings landed in the multiple hundreds of millions, according to Crunchbase data. Construction automation unicorn Icon took the second spot with $200 million. Biotech, insurance and AI filled out the rest of the top ten.

What does the week's top ten look like?

• Modal Labs, $750M, AI infrastructure: Cloud infrastructure for AI inference and other applications. Accel led the Series D at a $15.75 billion valuation.
• Icon, $200M, construction tech: The Austin-based developer of robotic construction systems, known for 3D-printed homes, closed a Series D led by Baillie Gifford and BlackRock. The company says it is on pace for 4x revenue growth in 2026.
• Soufflé Therapeutics, $135M, RNA therapies: Boston-based developer of RNA therapies. Series B led by Juvia Group as part of a large syndicate.
• Estuary Biotherapeutics, $103M, gene therapies: Menlo Park, California-based developer of genetic medicines for serious kidney diseases. The financing includes a $93 million Series A led by RA Capital Management plus $10 million in previously undisclosed seed capital.
• Labelbox, $100M, AI tools: Series E for the 8-year-old San Francisco company whose technology trains, evaluates and deploys AI agents that improve with experience. Infinitum Partners led.
• Suki, $90M, health AI: Redwood City, California-based provider of AI tools that turn clinical conversations into documentation, coding and other healthcare workflows. Backers include Healthier Capital and Crosslink Capital.
• Abby Care, $82M, caregiver platform: Series C led by Transformation Capital for the 5-year-old San Francisco startup, per a Fortune report. The platform certifies family members as paid at-home caregivers.
• Stand, $70M, insurance: Series C led by Saga Ventures at a $1 billion valuation. The 3-year-old San Francisco company insures homes in areas at higher risk of natural disasters.
• Mueon, $65M, semiconductor systems: Series A led by Maverick Silicon for the Portland, Oregon company building a modular platform for AI and hyperscale computing.
• North.cloud, $60M, AI spend management: Series B led by PeakSpan Capital for the New York-based infrastructure spend intelligence and automation platform.

Why did megadeals shrink this week?

The numbers show a contraction, not a pause. Modal Labs' $750 million round dwarfs the rest of the list. Icon's $200 million came in at less than a third of that figure. Everything else landed between $60 million and $135 million.

The pattern marks a shift from recent weeks that featured multiple nine-figure AI, energy and cloud rounds. Investors still wrote checks across sectors. They just avoided the billion-dollar-plus commitments that defined earlier stretches of the year.

Where is the money going?

AI remains the through line. Modal Labs, Labelbox, Suki, Mueon and North.cloud all sell into the AI stack, from inference infrastructure to model training tools to healthcare automation to spend management. Combined, those five companies absorbed more than $1 billion of the week's total.

Health ventures took three of the ten slots: Soufflé Therapeutics, Estuary Biotherapeutics and Suki. Insurance and construction claimed two more. That spread suggests investors are pricing AI demand across industries rather than chasing a single category.

What signals do the valuations send?

Modal Labs gives the clearest read. Accel paid a $15.75 billion valuation for a company crossing $1 billion in annual revenue run rate. That multiple, roughly 15 times revenue, sets the benchmark other AI infrastructure startups will now cite in their own raises.

Stand's $1 billion valuation on a $70 million Series C shows investors will still pay unicorn prices for a 3-year-old company, provided the risk model convinces them. Icon's claim of 4x revenue growth in 2026 explains why Baillie Gifford and BlackRock co-led its round despite a slower construction market.

The next few weeks will show whether this contraction holds or whether another wave of megadeals returns to the Crunchbase Megadeals Board.