Mercor’s rapid ascent includes scaling from a single conference room to more than 300 employees worldwide, with offices expanding to support growth across engineering, product, and operations.

Mercor, a San Francisco AI recruitment startup founded by three high school friends, has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaires after securing a $350 million Series C led by Felicis and hitting a $10 billion valuation, per Forbes.

The founders—Brendan Foody (CEO), Adarsh Hiremath (CTO), and Surya Midha (board chair)—left Georgetown and Harvard to devote themselves to Mercor, meeting in high school and developing the company from a dorm-room project to a global operation.

Observers note Mercor’s potential to unify labor markets across sectors like healthcare and legal, continuing a trend of AI-driven talent marketplaces with backing from notable investors who express ongoing confidence.

Mercor’s revenue run rate surged to about $500 million annually by September, up from $100 million in March, reflecting significant growth and recognition in industry rankings.

Mercor is currently facing a trade secrets lawsuit from Scale AI, which accuses a former Scale executive who joined Mercor of sharing confidential documents.

The narrative emphasizes the founders’ immigrant backgrounds and rapid trajectory from dorm-room beginnings to multi-billion-dollar status, underscoring their personal stories.

The Bay Area roots are highlighted: Foody and Midha come from tech backgrounds, with family ties to software engineering, and the trio’s early collaboration through debate at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose.

Mercor’s billionaire status follows a funding path that includes a $30 million Series A, a $100 million Series B, and now a $350 million Series C, culminating in a $10 billion valuation.

The company’s business model earns revenue from hourly finder’s fees from clients like OpenAI and Anthropic, and the team operates with a median age around 22.

The funding round arrives amid upheaval in the data-labeling industry, highlighted by Meta’s significant stake in Scale AI, intensifying competition among AI data-labeling firms.

Two founders, Surya Midha and Adarsh Hiremath, are Indian-Americans who studied at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose; Midha grew up in Mountain View, and Hiremath studied CS at Harvard before leaving to focus on Mercor.