Cognition AI's $48B Valuation and Europe's Early-Stage Funding Crisis

Cognition AI, the startup behind the autonomous coding agent Devin, closed its Series E round on Sept. 8, securing $2 billion at a staggering $48 billion valuation. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Accel, with Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Avenir returning. The valuation nearly doubled from $26 billion in May, but the arithmetic is key: Cognition's annualized run-rate revenue grew from $492 million to nearly $900 million between rounds, meaning the...