RadixArk Commands $400M Valuation as SGLang Team Pivots to Commercial AI Infrastructure
RadixArk, the commercial arm of SGLang, hits a $400M valuation. Alongside vLLM's $1B push, the AI inference infrastructure layer is seeing a massive surge in VC funding.
The open-source tools powering xAI and Cursor are officially going commercial. RadixArk, a startup born from the SGLang project, has reportedly secured a $400 million valuation, marking a major shift in the AI inference landscape.
RadixArk vLLM inference funding 2026: Scaling the Backbone
According to TechCrunch, Accel led the investment in RadixArk. The company was co-founded by CEO Ying Sheng, a former xAI engineer and Databricks research scientist. The startup originated in Ion Stoica's lab at UC Berkeley—the same prestigious incubator that produced Databricks.
While SGLang remains open-source, RadixArk is diversifying its revenue by offering hosting services and building 'Miles,' a specialized framework for reinforcement learning. The startup previously attracted angel capital from industry heavyweights, including Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
A Billion-Dollar Race for Inference Efficiency
RadixArk isn't alone in this transition. vLLM, another UC Berkeley offspring, is reportedly in talks to raise over $160 million at a $1 billion valuation, with a16z expected to lead. Despite vLLM co-founder Simon Mo calling certain details inaccurate, the momentum in the inference infrastructure layer is undeniable.
The surge in funding for RadixArk and vLLM follows a broader market trend. Recently, Baseten secured $300 million at a $5 billion valuation, while Fireworks AI hit a $4 billion valuation last October.
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