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Exclusive: AI inference startup Modal Labs in talks to raise at .5B valuation, sources say

Exclusive: AI inference startup Modal Labs in talks to raise at $2.5B valuation, sources say

Modal Labs, a startup specializing in AI inference infrastructure, is talking to VCs about a new round at a valuation of about $2.5 billion, according to four people with knowledge of the deal. Should the deal close at these terms, the funding round would more than double the company’s valuation of $1.1 billion announced less than five months ago, when it announced an $87 million Series B round.

General Catalyst is in talks to lead the round, the people told TechCrunch. Modal’s annualized revenue run rate (ARR) is approximately $50 million, our sources said. The discussions are early, and terms could still change.  

Modal Labs co-founder and CEO Erik Bernhardsson denied that his company was actively fundraising and characterized his recent interactions with VCs as general conversations. General Catalyst did not respond to our requests for comment.

Modal is focused on optimizing inference, the process of running trained AI models to generate answers from user requests. Improving inference efficiency reduces compute costs and cuts down the lag time between a user’s prompt and the AI’s response.

Modal is one of the handful of inference-focused companies attracting intense investor attention now. Last week, its competitor Baseten announced a $300 million raise at a $5 billion valuation, more than doubling the $2.1 billion valuation it reached just months prior in September. Similarly, Fireworks AI, an inference cloud provider, secured $250 million at a $4 billion valuation in October.

In January, the creators of the open source inference project vLLM announced they had transitioned the tool into a VC-backed startup, Inferact, raising $150 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz at an $800 million valuation. Meanwhile, TechCrunch reported that the team behind SGLang has commercialized as RadixArk, which sources told us secured seed funding at a $400 million valuation led by Accel.

Modal was co-founded by CEO Erik Bernhardsson in 2021 after he spent more than 15 years building and leading data teams at companies including Spotify and Better.com, where he was CTO.

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The startup counts Lux Capital and Redpoint Ventures among its earlier backers.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include a comment from Modal.

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If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

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Hurdle Word 1 hint

Bubbly.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

PERKY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To accumulate.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

AMASS

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Hurdle Word 3 hint

A kink.

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CRICK

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A beer.

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LAGER

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Harmony.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

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#Todays #Hurdle #hints #answers">Today’s Hurdle hints and answers for May 9, 2026
                                                            If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine. There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle. 
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators todayIf you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
        SEE ALSO:
        
            Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers
            
        
    
Hurdle Word 1 hintBubbly.
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Hurdle Word 1 answerPERKY
        
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Hurdle Word 2 hintTo accumulate.
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Hurdle Word 2 AnswerAMASSMashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators todayHurdle Word 3 hintA kink. 
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Hurdle Word 3 answerCRICKHurdle Word 4 hintA beer.Hurdle Word 4 answerLAGERFinal Hurdle hintHarmony.
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            Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable
            
        
    
Hurdle Word 5 answerAMITYIf you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Todays #Hurdle #hints #answers

Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Bubbly.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

PERKY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To accumulate.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

AMASS

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A kink.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

CRICK

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A beer.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

LAGER

Final Hurdle hint

Harmony.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

AMITY

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

#Todays #Hurdle #hints #answers">Today’s Hurdle hints and answers for May 9, 2026

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Bubbly.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

PERKY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To accumulate.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

AMASS

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A kink.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

CRICK

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A beer.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

LAGER

Final Hurdle hint

Harmony.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

AMITY

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

#Todays #Hurdle #hints #answers

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