Startup News: OpenAI raises $6.6B in new funding, Cerebras files for IPO
The success of OpenAI, the creator of the widely-used ChatGPT chatbot, has attracted a fresh funding round of $6.6 billion that effectively values the leading generative AI startup at $157 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Last week, The Journal confirmed funding news that began developing last month. The latest funding round is being led by VC firm Thrive Capital, which invested $1.25 billion, according to sources contacted by The Journal, while Microsoft, Open AI’s largest corporate backer, invested almost $1 million in the latest round.
Other investors include Japanese investment holding company Softbank, which contributed about $500 million, and AI chipmaker Nvidia, which put in about $100 million, sources told The Journal. Several other investment firms — including Altimeter Capital and Fidelity Management — contributed to the funding round, according to The Journal.
A market valuation in excess of $150 billion puts privately held OpenAI on par with some of America’s leading publicly listed companies such as Goldman Sachs, Uber, Lowe’s Corp., AT&T, and Progressive.
Founded in 2015, San Francisco-based OpenAI has a Forge Price™ of $190 a share as of Sept. 30, 2024. The company’s implied valuation, based on trading on the Forge Global platform, was $110.2 billion last week.
Cerebras files to go public
Meanwhile, Cerebras Systems, an AI chip maker that competes directly with Nvidia, announced last week that it filed to go public. The actual size of the public offering or other terms were not disclosed in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Cerebras, according to the announcement, intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “CBRS.” The company also said that Citigroup and Barclays are acting as lead managers for the proposed offering.
According to CNBC, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Cerebras has slightly narrowed its losses while increasing its revenues. The company reported a net loss of $66.6 million in the first six months of 2024 on $136.4 million in sales, compared with a net loss of $77.8 million and $8.7 million in sales during the first six months of 2023.
Founded in 2016, Cerebras has a Forge Price™ of $36.47 a share as of Sept. 30, 2024, giving the company an implied valuation of $7.14 billion, a huge 149% premium over the company’s post-money valuation of $2.87 billion based on the company’s last funding round of June 2024, according to Forge Global.
