Apollo Invests in AI Data Labeling Startup Mercor at $20B Valuation

Apollo Global Management has joined the latest funding round of data labeling startup Mercor, investing tens of millions of dollars and bringing the company's valuation to $20 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The investment is part of Apollo's broader push into AI and related hardware startups, with an eye toward eventually providing loans to these companies. Earlier in 2026, Apollo also invested in chip company SiFive and Hadrian, a startup building AI-driven factories. In January 2026, Apollo participated in a funding round that valued SiFive at $3.6 billion.

Mercor, which The Information previously reported was raising a round led by General Catalyst, supplies human annotators to leading AI companies to fine-tune model outputs and support large model training. The business also gives it a close view of AI companies' compute demand.

Apollo, which manages about $1 trillion in assets, expects more AI startups to need financing tools beyond venture capital. The firm said it can provide debt, asset-backed financing, or hybrid capital structures in addition to equity investments. AI hardware companies often need large upfront capital for equipment and facilities, with years to go before mass production and commercialization.

Apollo has also partnered with venture firm 8VC, announcing in October 2025 a plan to deploy billions of dollars into fast-growing, capital-intensive companies across AI, robotics, autonomous systems, biotechnology, and nuclear energy.