# Mercor

URL: https://aidataforsale.com/companies/mercor
Publisher: AI Data For Sale (Marketing Signals Ltd)
Updated: 2026-11-10

Mercor supplies AI labs with domain experts such as doctors, lawyers and scientists to train models. How it works, what it pays, and the alternatives.

A company that supplies AI labs with domain experts to create and review training data.

## In short

- Mercor began as an AI hiring platform and now supplies AI labs with experts such as scientists, doctors and lawyers.
- TechCrunch reported a $350 million Series C at a $10 billion valuation in October 2025.
- It said it pays contractors more than $1.5 million a day, across more than 30,000 experts.

## Profile

| Field | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Type | Expert network for AI training data |
| Model | Charges an hourly finder's fee and matching rate, per TechCrunch |
| Network | More than 30,000 experts earning an average of over $85 an hour, per TechCrunch |
| Funding | $350 million Series C led by Felicis at a $10 billion valuation (October 2025) |
| Buys data from companies? | Its core model is supplying people, not licensing archives |

## What Mercor does

Mercor supplies AI labs with domain experts who write, grade and review training data. It started as an AI hiring platform, then pivoted, and charges an hourly finder's fee and matching rate. TechCrunch reported a $350 million Series C at a $10 billion valuation, more than 30,000 experts on its network earning an average of over $85 an hour, and contractor payments of more than $1.5 million a day ([TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/mercor-quintuples-valuation-to-10b-with-350M-series-c/)).

## Why this matters to data holders

Expert networks show what AI labs will pay for specialist judgment. When a lab pays experts by the hour to write examples of how a lawyer or doctor reasons, a company that already holds years of real expert work (with the rights to license it) has something comparable. See [expert-annotated data](https://aidataforsale.com/data/expert-annotated-data) and [how to value a dataset](https://aidataforsale.com/learn/how-to-value-a-dataset).

MIT Technology Review reported that Mercor was among the bidders when Spirit Airlines' data was auctioned in 2026, with Google winning at $10 million ([MIT Technology Review](https://technologyreview.com/2026/10/13/1145755/ai-labs-buying-data-from-dead-startups-to-train-models)).

## How it compares with a data broker

Mercor sells expert time. A broker helps you license data that already exists. Many AI teams use both: experts for new, targeted examples and licensed archives for scale and realism.

## Things to check before you sign

- For AI teams: how experts are vetted, and whether credentials are verified.
- Who owns work product, and whether experts may reuse what they write.
- Confidentiality terms for experts who see your prompts and model outputs.
- For experts: pay rates, how work is assessed and how disputes are handled.

## Alternatives and related companies

- [Mercor vs Scale AI](https://aidataforsale.com/compare/mercor-vs-scale-ai)
- [Scale AI](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/scale-ai)
- [Surge AI](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/surge-ai)
- [Prolific](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/prolific)
- [Expert-annotated data](https://aidataforsale.com/data/expert-annotated-data)
- [AI Data For Sale: how our brokerage works](https://aidataforsale.com/how-it-works)

## Questions

### How does Mercor make money?

TechCrunch reported that it charges an hourly finder's fee and matching rate for the experts it supplies.

### Did Mercor bid for Spirit Airlines' data?

MIT Technology Review reported that Google and Mercor competed for the data, with Google buying it for $10 million in August 2026.

## Sources

- [TechCrunch: Mercor quintuples valuation to $10B with $350M Series C (October 2025)](https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/mercor-quintuples-valuation-to-10b-with-350M-series-c/)
- [MIT Technology Review: AI labs are buying data from dead startups to train models (October 2026)](https://technologyreview.com/2026/10/13/1145755/ai-labs-buying-data-from-dead-startups-to-train-models)