# AI funding rounds led by Conviction

Lead investor · Presspool · https://presspool.ai/investors/conviction

Conviction led or co-led 2 funding rounds at 2 AI companies on Presspool's record, announced between June 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026. The most recent: Watchtower Labs and Baseten.

| Company | Amount | Round | Announced | Co-leads |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Watchtower Labs](https://presspool.ai/companies/watchtowerlabs-ai) | $35 million | Seed | October 21, 2026 | Shield Capital |
| [Baseten](https://presspool.ai/companies/baseten-co) | $1.5 billion | Series F | June 22, 2026 | Altimeter Capital, [Spark Capital](https://presspool.ai/investors/spark-capital), Sands Capital, [Wellington Management](https://presspool.ai/investors/wellington-management) |

## Rounds by year

| Year | Rounds led | Led rounds announced in dollars | Round types led |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | 2 | $1.53 billion across 2 rounds | Seed, Series F |

## Maps its companies are on

- On the [AI infrastructure map](https://presspool.ai/niches/ai-infrastructure) in the weekly sample of October 19, 2026: [Baseten](https://presspool.ai/companies/baseten-co), named or cited in 9 of 56 answers.

## Co-investors

Investors named with Conviction on the rounds above: Altimeter Capital, Sands Capital, Shield Capital, [Spark Capital](https://presspool.ai/investors/spark-capital) and [Wellington Management](https://presspool.ai/investors/wellington-management).

## Each round and its sources

### 1. Watchtower Labs: $35 million Seed

Participation from Founders Fund; emerged from stealth.

- Announced: October 21, 2026
- Company record: [Watchtower Labs on Presspool](https://presspool.ai/companies/watchtowerlabs-ai)
- Listed in the [AI startup funding roster for October 18–24, 2026](https://presspool.ai/ai-startup-funding/week-of-2026-10-19)
- Sources: [Watchtower Labs news release](https://www.watchtowerlabs.ai/news-releases/watchtower-labs-emerges-from-stealth-with-35-million-to-build-ai-native-decision-tools-for-military-operations), [FinSMEs](https://www.finsmes.com/2026/10/watchtower-labs-raises-35m-in-seed-funding.html)

### 2. Baseten: $1.5 billion Series F

- Announced: June 22, 2026
- Company record: [Baseten on Presspool](https://presspool.ai/companies/baseten-co)
- Sources: [businesswire.com](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260622645563/en/Baseten-Raises-$1.5-Billion-to-Power-the-Next-Era-of-AI-Inference)

## What this page covers

Presspool records the lead investors of each round, as the company's announcement or the confirming outlets name them, and the other investors the round's entry names. This page lists the rounds this investor led on Presspool's record: every weekly AI startup funding roster, and the latest round of each company on a niche map. A round it joined without leading is listed when the round's entry names it, matched only to firms the record names as some round's lead. It is not the investor's full portfolio: rounds its sources did not name it in are not listed.

All lead investors: [Investors](https://presspool.ai/investors)

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Presspool is a sourced record of AI startup funding. Rounds are listed because they were publicly announced, and no company pays to be listed.

Published by [Jaxon Parrott](https://jaxonparrott.com). Jaxon Parrott coined [Machine Relations](https://machinerelations.ai) in 2024. [AuthorityTech](https://authoritytech.io), which he founded in 2018, is the first Machine Relations agency.

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