Private Markets: SpaceX interviews banks to lead IPO, Skild AI raises $1.4B

SpaceX, Tesla CEO’s Elon Musk’s rocket company, has reportedly interviewed banks to lead an IPO. Meanwhile, Skild AI announced it has raised close to $1.4B in funding.

This week’s private company news:

• Replit, an artificial intelligence coding startup, is in advanced discussions to raise about $400M in a new round of funding that would roughly triple its valuation to $9B, including the money raised, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg‘s Shirin Ghaffary, Paula Sambo and Natasha Mascarenhas.
• SpaceX, Tesla (TSLA) CEO’s Elon Musk’s rocket company, has interviewed banks to lead an IPO, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, The New York Times’ Erin Griffith and Lauren Hirsch report. Meanwhile, other potential IPOs include Anthropic, which is in funding talks that would value it at $350B, and OpenAI, which is worth $500B, the report says, adding that SpaceX was most recently valued at $800B.
• OpenAI stated in a post to X, “We’ve acquired Torch, a healthcare startup that unifies lab results, medications, and visit recordings. Bringing this together with ChatGPT Health opens up a new way to understand and manage your health. We’re excited to welcome the Torch team to OpenAI @IlyaAbyzov, @elh_online, @jfhamlin, and Ryan Oman.”

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

• Skild AI – The AI robotics company building a scalable foundation model for robotics announced it has raised close to $1.4B in funding led by SoftBank Group (SFTBY), with participation from NVentures – Nvidia’s (NVDA) venture capital arm, Macquarie Capital, Jeff Bezos, Disruptive, and 1789 Capital. Lightspeed, Felicis, Coatue, and Sequoia Capital have doubled down on their investments. Several strategic investors have also come on board, including Samsung, LG, Schneider, CommonSpirit, and Salesforce Ventures. Other investors include TF Capital, Andra Capital, Palo Alto Growth Capital, KIC, Alpha Square, Mirae Asset, and Destiny. The latest funding brings the company’s valuation to over $14B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nvidia, Alphabet (GOOGL), and Amazon (AMZN).
• Renewa – The provider of land-based financing solutions said it secured $502M in financing from a consortium of leading institutional investors. Publicly traded companies in the space include Clearway Energy (CWEN) and Brookfield Renewable (BEP).
• Parloa – The customer service AI startup Parloa announced it has raised $350M in Series D funding, bringing its valuation to $3B. The round was led by General Catalyst, with continued support from Parloa’s existing investors, including EQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Durable Capital Partners, and Mosaic Ventures. Closing just seven months after its Series C, this round brings Parloa’s total raised capital to more than $560M in less than four years. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nice (NICE), Five9 (FIVN), and Salesforce (CRM).
• Parabilis Medicines – The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced the successful closing of a $305M Series F financing, in a round co-led by RA Capital Management, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from new investors including Frazier Life Sciences, Soleus Capital, and a life science-dedicated investment fund. Publicly traded companies in the space include Revolution Medicines (RVMD), Relay Therapeutics (RLAY), and Arvinas (ARVN).
• Onebrief – The operating system for modern command announced it closed a Series D, featuring both a primary and secondary offering for an aggregate $200M. The round was led by Battery Ventures and Sapphire Ventures, with new participation from Salesforce Ventures and additional investment from General Catalyst and Insight Partners. Publicly traded companies in the space include Palantir (PLTR), Leidos (LDOS), and L3Harris Technologies (LHX).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• Ripple – The blockchain-based payments platform has an estimated valuation of $15.64B and has seen renewed enthusiasm from investors as broader interest in crypto infrastructure and decentralized finance has also increased. Publicly traded companies in the space include PayPal (PYPL), Block (XYZ), Visa (V), and MasterCard (MA).
• Anthropic – Operating in the AI Safety & Chatbots sector, Anthropic has reportedly seen Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia invest up to $15B in the company. Publicly traded companies in the space include Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon.
• Databricks – The software company focused on data analytics and artificial intelligence is said to be in talks to raise funding at over $130B valuation. Publicly traded companies in the space include Snowflake (SNOW) and Teradata (TDC).
• Shield AI – Operating in the Defense and autonomous drones space, Shield AI has an estimated $3B valuation. Publicly traded competitors include Palantir and AeroVironment (AVA).
• Gecko Robotics – The company works in built-world data/infrastructure monitoring and has reached a unicorn valuation at $1.25B after its most recent funding. Publicly traded companies in the space include Oceaneering (OII) and Honeywell (HON).

IPOs to watch:

• PicS N.V. (PICS) – The company filed for an initial public offering of Class A common shares,” and said it will not seek a listing for its Class B common shares on Nasdaq or on any other exchange.
• Discord – The online chat platform Discord has filed confidentially for an IPO, Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde and Bailey Lipschultz reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
• Grayscale Investments (GRAY) – The company filed a prospectus for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “GRAY.” Grayscale says it is the largest digital asset-focused investment platform in the world, with $35B in assets under management as of September 30.
• Klook Technology (KLK) – The company, which identifies itself as “the largest pan-regional experiences platform in Asia-Pacific” by gross transaction volume in 2024, announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of American Depositary Shares representing its ordinary shares.
• Speed Group (SPED) – The company filed a prospectus for 2.5M share initial public offering. It expects the IPO price to be in the range of $4.00 to $5.00 per. The company’s operating subsidiary, Speed Logistics, is an e-commerce logistics provider providing end-to-end logistics solution in Hong Kong, Europe and North America. The services include warehousing, customs clearance, air transportation, and final delivery from the European airports.
• 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.