Private Markets: JPMorgan initiates coverage of OpenAI

Expanding research coverage to private companies, which won’t include a rating or price target, JPMorgan launched coverage of OpenAI. The firm notes that consumer and enterprise AI adoption, as well as investment, have surged, with over $315B deployed to artificial intelligence and machine learning startups since 2023. Today, ChatGPT has over 800M users and is the second fastest growing digital app in history, the firm noted. OpenAI, which CEO and co-founder Sam Altman notes began as a “quiet research lab” in 2015, has become an AI industry bellwether and the third most valuable private company in the world, JPMorgan highlights. The firm points out ChatGPT has an “early advantage, unrivaled brand,” and consumer focus that it estimates could unlock a $700B-plus total addressable market by 2030. 

Meanwhile, some investors indicated interest in funding Anthropic at a valuation of more than $100B if the company decides to pursue a deal, compared to a $58B valuation in a financing round announced four months ago, according to two people involved in the discussions, The Information’s Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas report. The company raised $3.5B in equity financing in March but previously told some investors it planned to raise $5.5B in total this year, and it recently let some investors see part of its financial performance, one of these people said

This week, Tesla (TSLA) CEO and founder of xAI Elon Musk said that “rumors” of the latter seeking a $200B valuation in its next fundraising round are “false.” “xAI is not seeking funding right now,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “We have plenty of capital.”

Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:

• Hadrian Grabs – The advanced manufacturing company building AI-powered factories for America secured $260M in Series C financing led by existing investors Founders Fund and Lux Capital. Publicly traded companies in the space include AeroVironment (AVAV), Kratos Defense (KTOS), and Raytheon Technologies (RTX).
• Viva Finance – The credit provider secured more than $220M in funding round, intended to be used to “reach new customer segments and continue expanding nationwide,” the company said. Publicly traded companies in the space include Upstart (UPST), Affirm (AFRM), and LendingTree (TREE).  
• Bedrock Robotics – The company developing autonomous construction system announced an $80M seed and Series A funding round. The Series A was led by 8VC and the seed round was led by Eclipse. Publicly traded companies in the space include Deere (DE), Teradyne (TER), and AGCO (AGCO).
• Boulevard – The provider of the client experience platform purpose-built for appointment-based, self-care business raised $80M in Series D funding. The round was led by JMI Equity. Companies in the space include Mindbody, soon expected to go public.
• Renasant Bio – The biopharmaceutical company pioneering disease-modifying oral small molecule treatments for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease announced that it raised $54.5M in seed funding. Publicly traded companies in the space include Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Regulus Therapeutics (RGLS), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• Figma (FIG) – Valued at $12.5B, the cloud-based design platform has recently filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of shares of Class A common stock. Publicly traded companies in the space include Adobe (ADBE), Autodesk (ADSK), and Atlassian (TEAM).
• MaintainX – The industrial AI-powered operations platform is valued around $2.5M. Publicly traded companies in the space include IBM (IBM), Siemens (SIEGY), and Fortive (FTV).
• CHAOS Industries – Valued at $2B, the defense technology startup recently emerging as a unicorn. Publicly traded companies in the space include Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), and Raytheon Technologies (RTX).
• Owner – The restaurant tech platform is valued at around $1B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Toast (TOST), Olo (OLO), and Block (XYZ).
• Statsig – With a valuation of about $1.08B, the product experimentation platform achieved unicorn status via a $100M Series C in May. Publicly traded companies in the space Amplitude (AMPL).

IPOs to watch:

• Hengguang (HGIA) – The company has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of its Class A ordinary shares and reserved the symbol “HGIA” for purposes of listing the Class A ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market. D. Boral Capital is acting as the underwriter.
• Ambiq Micro (AMBQ) – The company has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of shares of common stock and intends to apply to have its common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AMBQ.” BofA Securities, UBS, Needham and Stifel are listed as underwriters.
• Center Mobile (CTMB) – The company has filed with the SEC for a firm commitment initial public offering of ordinary shares, via which it will be offering 3.75M ordinary shares. R.F. Lafferty is listed as the underwriter.
• Klarna (KLAR) – Affirm’s (AFRM) “Buy Now, Pay Later” rival Klarna is expected to go public in 2025. In its last funding round back in 2022, Klarna was valued at $6.7B, but an IPO could value the fintech company at $15B-$20B. Klarna has retained Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) to lead the listing.
• Stripe – The digital payments company is one of the most anticipated 2025 IPOs. While no specific date has been announced, many believe next year will be the one for Stripe’s public debut.

“Private Markets” is The Fly’s new recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.