AI coding startup Replit Inc. has raised $250 million in a funding round that nearly triples its valuation to $3 billion, the latest sign of investor demand for companies using artificial intelligence for software development. Prysm Capital is leading the financing round, which includes investors such as American Express Ventures and Google’s AI Futures Fund, the company said on Wednesday. Existing backers such as Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator participated in the round, too. Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg LP, is also an investor in the startup. The announcement confirms deal talks that were previously reported by Bloomberg. Amjad Masad, Replit’s chief executive officer, co-founded the company nearly a decade ago in the early days of AI chatbots and years before ChatGPT brought generative AI to the mainstream. Masad, a former Facebook engineer who previously worked on open-source software in Jordan, where he was raised, sought to make it easier for people to build applications within web browsers. Replit has since emerged as one of the leaders of so-called vibe coding, or AI-powered tools that aim to make experienced software developers more efficient and help laymen try their hand at programming.

Full report : Replit raised $250 million led by Prysm, nearly tripling its valuation to $3 billion; its annualized revenue grew from $2.8 million to $150 million in the past year and it has 40 million users.