Private Markets: Oura reaches $11B valuation after $900M funding round

Smart ring maker Oura has reached a $11B valuation after raising more than $900M in a new funding round.

This week’s private company news:

Elon Musk’s xAI is aiming to build and control the world’s most powerful data center and a massive natural gas plant to power it, The Information’s Theo Wayt and Miles Kruppa write. The scale of the project and xAI’s precarious finances are forcing the company into unusual financial arrangements that rely on outsiders to raise funding and shoulder much of the risk, the authors add. xAI wants to have as much control as possible over Colossus 2, its second supersize data center in Memphis. XAI’s desire to control its data centers is in contrast to rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which have partnered more extensively with outside cloud firms to get the computing power they need, they note. The publication further highlights that xAI is working on a $20B lease-to-own deal for Nvidia (NVDA) chips, has formed joint venture with Solaris Energy for a 1-gigawatt power plant. xAI’s precarious finances force reliance on outside funding and risk-sharing, the report adds.

Meanwhile, AI startup Anthropic is on track to meet an internal goal of $9B in annual revenue run rate by the end of 2025 and has set even more aggressive targets for 2026, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters‘ Krystal Hu and Deepa Seetharaman. For next year, Anthropic has a base case of more than doubling to $20B in annualized revenue and a best case of as much as $26B, the sources reportedly said.

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

• Oura – Known for its Oura Rings, the smart ring maker said it raised over $900M in a Series E funding round, bringing its valuation to $11B. The round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, and also included ICONIQ and contributions from Whale Rock and Atreides. Publicly traded companies in the space include Samsung (SSNLF), Apple (AAPL), and Garmin (GRMN).
• Deel – The HR and payroll platform announced a $300M strategic investment from Ribbit Capital along with Deel partners Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue Management with additional support from General Catalyst, Green Bay Ventures, and others. Publicly traded companies in the space include ADP (ADP), Paychex (PAYX), and Workday (WDAY).
• HistoSonics – The developer of the Edison Histotripsy System and novel histotripsy therapy platform said it closed an oversubscribed $250M financing round. The funding round was led by its new ownership group and included other investors such as Thiel Bio and Founders Fund. Publicly traded companies in the space include EDAP TMS (EDAP).
• Solmetex Lands – The provider of dental products, systems and consumables such as amalgam separation, waterline safety solutions, dental isolation technology and regenerative biomaterials announced that GTCR closed a minority investment in the company of $200M. Publicly traded companies in the space include Clean Harbors (CLH) and Enviri (NVRI).
• Upgrade – The fintech company offering affordable and responsible credit and banking products to mainstream consumers said it raised $165M in new equity investment. The Series G Preferred Round was led by Neuberger, with participation from LuminArx Capital Management. Publicly traded companies in the space include Upstart (UPST), SoFi (SOFI), and Nubank (NU).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• Anthropic – operating in the AI Safety & Chatbots sector, Anthropic has an estimated valuation of $60B as it continues to scale its AI model development. Publicly traded companies in the space include Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), IBM (IBM) and Palantir (PLTR).
• OpenAI – Operating in the AI Research & Infrastructure sector, OpenAI has become one of the most valuable private companies globally. Publicly traded competitors include Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), and Amazon (AMZN).
• SpaceX – Operating in the Space & Transportation sector, SpaceX has reached a valuation of $400B during an insider share sale back in July 2025. Publicly traded competitors include Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Rocket Lab USA (RKLB), L3Harris Technologies (LHX), and Virgin Galactic (SPCE).
• Thinking Machines Lab – The AI foundation model startup founded by Mira Murati, former CTO at OpenAI, raised a seed round of about $2B, valuing it at around $10B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Nvidia (NVDA).
• Glean Technologies – The enterprise search/knowledge management company has an estimated valuation of $7.2B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Elastic (ESTC), Palantir (PLTR), and Microsoft (MSFT).

IPOs to watch:

• Navan – The company is targeting a valuation of up to $6.45B in its U.S. initial public offering as it pushes ahead with its plans to list on Nasdaq despite the U.S. government shutdown, Prakhar Srivastava of Reuters reported. The firm plans to raise approximately $960M by offering 36.82M shares priced between $24 and $26.
• Evommune (EVMN) – The clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative therapies that target key drivers of chronic inflammatory diseases has filed for an initial public offering and applied to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Central Bancompany (CBC) – The company announced its filing of a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its Class A common stock. In connection with the proposed initial public offering, the Board of Directors of Central Bancompany approved a 50-for-1 stock split in the form of a stock dividend, whereby each shareholder of record as of the October 20 record date will receive 49 shares of Class A common stock for each share owned as of the record date.
• Ethos (LIFE) – The life insurance technology company announced that it filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.
• Lendbuzz (LBZZ) – The company is offering an undetermined number of shares of its common stock and the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering additional shares of common stock, according to an initial public offering prospectus filed with the SEC.

“Private Markets” is The Fly’s 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.