Expert-driven training data and RLHF for frontier AI labs
Handshake AI is the data-labeling business spun out of college-recruiting platform Handshake, leveraging the company's existing network of PhDs, graduates and postdocs to produce high-quality training data and RLHF feedback for frontier AI labs. Sacra estimates revenue scaled to ~$1.1B in 2026 (+349% YoY) at a $3.5B valuation set in 2025.
AI📍 San Francisco, CAFounded 2024
Current Valuation
$3.5B
as of 2025-Q4
UNICORN
QL Price
$7.4B
+111% vs last round
QuantLogix's current estimate for Handshake AI, published 2026-10-07 — above the last disclosed round of $3.5B (2025-Q4).
Confidence
medium
Basis
comps led
What backs this price
Last disclosed round
$3.5B
2025-Q4
weight 0.59
Public-company comparables
$16B
2026
weight 0.27
This price sits more than 100% away from the last disclosed round. Past a 2× repricing off a single secondary print, the likeliest explanation is that the print and the round describe different share classes rather than a genuine move. It is published and graded like every other price, but treat it with more care.
How this price has held up
No round has priced for Handshake AI since QuantLogix began publishing a price for it, so there is nothing to grade yet. The claim above is on the record from 2026-10-07 and will be graded against the next priced round. See the full accuracy record →
Which publicly-traded funds already hold it, what $10,000 buys, and whether any route is open to you.
Cite this price as QuantLogix QL Price, Handshake AI, 2026-10-07 (e943cccb9442bda2).
The id pins this exact claim, so a citation stays checkable after the price moves.
Model estimate for research — not a quote, target price, or investment advice.
IPO Outlookprivate
Is Handshake AI going public?
No. Handshake AI is private and has not filed to go public. There is no S-1 on file.
What is Handshake AI's valuation in 2026?
Handshake AI is valued at $3.5B as of 2025-Q4, set by its Series F ($200M, Sep 2025). That is the last confirmed mark, not a live price — private shares do not trade continuously.
Has Handshake AI filed an S-1?
No public S-1 is on file for Handshake AI.
Who are Handshake AI's investors?
Handshake AI's investors include Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, EQT Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Coatue.
Is Handshake AI publicly traded — can you buy Handshake AI stock?
No. Handshake AI is a private company — its shares are not listed on any exchange and there is no ticker. The routes to exposure are pre-IPO secondary marketplaces and funds (accredited investors), employee tender offers when the company runs one, and public companies with read-through exposure. QuantLogix maps every route it can verify for Handshake AI on its Pre-IPO Access Desk.
Answers are derived from the roster record shown on this page — filing status, last round and confirmed marks. Where the record is silent, the answer says so rather than guessing.
Company Profile
CEO
Garrett Lord
Founded
2024
HQ
San Francisco, CA
Est. Revenue
$1.1B (2026)
Growth
+349% YoY
Last Round
Series F — $200M (Sep 2025) · Lead: Kleiner Perkins
IPO Status
none
Fundraising Status
Series F · $200M · 1y 1mo ago
none
Latest Funding Round
Round
Amount
Date
Lead Investor
Post-Money
Series F
$200M
Sep 2025
Kleiner Perkins
—
Vertical Intelligence — AI / ML
No verified Hugging Face organization found for Handshake AI — no attributable open-model footprint. Closed-weights labs are common; this is a distribution signal, not a capability judgment.
Checked huggingface.co as of 2026-10-04. Re-checked weekly.
Talent Signal
Hiring trend
▼ Hiring downtrend
-95% vs 2026-08
Open roles
4
via greenhouse
Product-build share
0%
engineering, research, product, design
Trajectory
tightening
go-to-market push — Only 0% of open roles build product — hiring is concentrated in sales/marketing/ops (3 of 4 open roles are other).
Open roles trending down; no tracked executive churn.
Counted from Handshake AI's live job board as of 2026-09-15; role functions classified from posting titles. Open-role counts are an activity signal, not headcount. Refreshed monthly.
Founders & Key People
Garrett LordScott RingwelskiBen Christensen
Investors
Kleiner Perkins · Spark Capital · EQT Ventures · Valor Equity Partners · Coatue
Products
Expert-graded training datasets for frontier AI labs
RLHF labeling marketplace built on Handshake's PhD/graduate network
Reasoning and domain-specific evaluation environments
Competitors
Scale AI · Surge AI · Mercor · micro1 · AfterQuery
AIData LabelingRLHFGig Marketplaces
Private-company numbers are not real-time. Reflects publicly disclosed valuations from press releases, news reports, and tender offers as of 2025-Q4. Refreshed quarterly.