Mirendil, AI Startup Founded by Ex-Anthropic Researchers, in Talks to Raise at $5 Billion Valuation

Mirendil, an artificial intelligence startup founded by former Anthropic PBC researchers, is in talks to raise a new funding round at a $5 billion valuation, according to people familiar with the matter. Kleiner Perkins is in discussions to lead the financing, which could bring up to $1 billion in new capital. Andreessen Horowitz is also in talks to invest. The discussions come three months after Kleiner and Andreessen led a $200 million seed round that valued the company at $1 billion. Mirendil, now with more than 20 staffers, was launched earlier this year to build widely accessible models capable of self-improvement with minimal human input — a strategy known as "recursive self-improvement." The startup plans to launch a frontier model by early 2027 to support engineering and research work, with proceeds funding model development and training. Mirendil declined to comment.