Inception

Backed byMenlo Ventures
Total raised$50.0M
StageSeed
Founded2024
Team size11-50
HQPalo Alto, United States
IndustriesAI/MLResearchMachine LearningInfrastructure

About Inception

Inception is an AI company that pioneered the application of diffusion-based technology to language models, representing a significant innovation in the field of artificial intelligence. The company launched Mercury, the world's first commercially available diffusion-based large language model, in early 2025, marking a major milestone in making this advanced technology accessible to enterprises. Inception is currently deploying large-scale diffusion LLMs at Fortune 500 companies, positioning itself as a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure and demonstrating strong market adoption among the world's largest organizations.

Open positions · 1

Company at a glance

Locations
Los Angeles, United States ·New York City, United States ·Palo Alto, United States ·San Francisco, United States

Founders & Leadership

SB

Sawyer Birnbaum

Wharton MBA | Stanford CS Master's | Developing next-gen LLMs

LinkedIn
SE

Stefano Ermon

Professor at Stanford University; Founder at Inception

LinkedIn
AG

Aditya Grover

Co-founder & CTO, Inception | AI Prof, UCLA | PhD, Stanford

LinkedIn
VK

Volodymyr Kuleshov

Co-Founder @ Inception | Prof @ Cornell & Cornell Tech

LinkedIn
KC

Kumar Chellapilla

VP of Engineering | Building and scaling engineering at Inception Labs

LinkedIn

Location

About the Team

Team Distribution

  • Engineering47%
  • Other Specialized23%
  • Business Operations13%
  • Leadership7%
  • Product & Design3%

Where the Team Studied

  1. 1.Stanford University
  2. 2.Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
  3. 3.Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
  4. 4.Carnegie Mellon University
  5. 5.Cornell University

Team Worked At

  • Google DeepMind
  • Microsoft
  • Google
  • NVIDIA
  • OpenAI

Team Composition

22 people
  • Engineering1 senior12
  • Entrepreneurship2 senior2
  • Leadership2 senior2
  • Administrative1
  • Healthcare Services1
  • Operations1

Funding History

SeedNov 2025

$50M

raised

Inception, a diffusion LLM startup, raised a $50M funding round led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Mayfield, Innovation Endeavors, NVentures, M12, Snowflake Ventures, and Databricks Investment.

Menlo VenturesSnowflake VenturesNVenturesMayfieldM12Innovation Endeavors+1

Life at Inception

Frequently asked questions

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