Starobinsky inflation in the swampland

We argue that the Starobinsky model of inflation, realised via an R² term in the Lagrangian, can originate from quantum effects due to a tower of light species. By means of two separate arguments, we show how this implies that the scale of the R² term must be of order of the species scale Λ_s, namely the energy at which gravity becomes strongly coupled. We discuss the implications and challenges of this scenario for inflation, inflationary reheating, and string theory embeddings. In this context, we collect strong evidence to conclude that Starobinsky inflation lies in the Swampland.