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Insights / Blog

Startup Trends: 10 companies with highest investor demand in Q1 2025

By Chris Cannon
Unicorns & Startup News

Private market demand signals — such as investor indications of interest — can help illuminate which companies are gaining traction even before a public offering. In the first quarter of 2025, investor appetite remained strong for startups shaping the future of artificial intelligence, defense technology and blockchain infrastructure.

Here are the 10 companies that attracted the highest demand on Forge Global in Q1 2025 per their indication of interest volume:

Anduril, defense technology

Anduril, based in Costa Mesa, California, builds advanced defense technology leveraging AI and autonomous systems. Founded in 2017, Anduril made Forge’s list of highest-demand companies last quarter. One potential contributing factor to the growing interest is the ongoing geopolitical instability and uncertainty worldwide. It was reported in March that the company was mulling a U.K. drone manufacturing facility as it pushes towards more defense contracts in Europe.1

In February 2025, Anduril was granted a contract to take over Microsoft’s augmented headset program of the U.S. military. The contract is estimated at around $22 billion.2

Anduril’s Forge Price™ is $42.52 as of March 27, 2025. The technology company’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Counterpoint Global, Founders Fund and 137 Ventures.

SpaceX, aerospace company

SpaceX, the Hawthorne, California-based aerospace company, offers space launch services to commercial clients, governments and private enterprises. Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, the private company’s services include the development and launch of usable rockets, satellites and spacecraft, such as the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule.

On March 18, 2025, SpaceX was commissioned by the U.S. government to bring home astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The two had been stranded and living at the International Space Station for nine months after their Boeing Starliner experienced technical issues and safety concerns.3

SpaceX’s Forge Price™ is $214.28 as of March 27, 2025, implying a valuation of $405.39 billion. Its notable investors include Founders Fund, Google, NASA and Sequoia Capital.

SpaceX is a Forge Private Market Magnificent 7 company.

xAI, artificial intelligence firm

xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, offers AI models to organizations and individuals. The startup has positioned itself as a counterweight to OpenAI, aiming to build transparent AI systems.

It was announced in March 2025 that the technology company would join forces to build an AI infrastructure widely accessible in the U.S. The consortium has notable backers like Microsoft, investment fund MGX and BlackRock. The group is reportedly aiming to invest $30 billion in AI-related projects.4

Founded in 2023, xAI’s Forge Price™ is $21.65 and implies a $50 billion valuation. Its investors include 369 Growth Partners, Craft Ventures, Epic Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

Databricks, data software

Databricks, based in San Francisco, California, continues to draw investor interest as a leading platform for data engineering, machine learning and generative AI development.

Most recently it was reported that the firm was partnering with AI company Anthropic. The deal is a 5-year partnership to bring Anthropic’s advanced AI capabilities to Databricks’s data products. Databricks has over 10,000 customers including Comcast, Conde Nast and Block, all of them with the ability to deploy AI agents with the new initiative.5

Databricks’s Forge Price™ is $107.91 as of March 27, 2025, implying a valuation of $72.38 billion. The private company’s investors include Clearbridge Investors, Berkeley Frontier Fund, BlackRock and Capital One Ventures.

Founded in 2013, Databricks is a Forge Private Market Magnificent 7 company.

Figure AI, robotics firm

Sunnyvale, California-based Figure AI, is a humanoid robotics developer with a mission to automate the manual labor process. The company aims to support processes within the sectors of warehousing, transportation, manufacturing and logistics.

The robotics firm is now looking ahead to advancing its technology into customers’ homes. In February 2025, CEO Brett Adcock confirmed that “alpha testing” of its Figure 02 robot will start in the home setting. The humanoids will be tested on their ability to perform various household tasks such as food preparation and cleaning.6

Founded in 2019, Figure AI’s Forge Price™ is $194.00 implying a valuation of $38.15 billion. The private company’s investors include Align Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, Intel Capital and Microsoft.

Anthropic, AI research company

Anthropic, the San Francisco, California-based AI safety research company and creator of Claude has established itself as a major player in enterprise-grade generative AI. Anthropic’s models are designed to prioritize safety and interpretability, supporting AI applications that align with human values.

The firm is on target for partnerships with Google, Snowflake and Databricks to enable their AI-enabled product infrastructures.7 This initiative comes on the heels of the startup’s latest fundraise of $3.5 billion which reportedly put the firm’s post-money valuation at $61.5 billion.8

Founded in 2021, Anthropic’s Forge Price™ is $60.11 which implies a valuation of $65.91 billion. Its notable investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Google, Amazon and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

OpenAI, AI innovation

OpenAI, headquartered in San Francisco, California, remains at the center of global AI innovation. Founded in 2025, the AI research company offers advanced AI models to organizations and individuals. OpenAI is widely known for its chatbot feature, Chat-GPT.

The firm most recently was reported to be eyeing an expansion into the Asia-Pacific market. OpenAI is collaborating with South Korea’s internet conglomerate Kakao to jointly develop AI products tailored for the country. The partnership aims to integrate OpenAI’s technology into Kakao’s services, including its dominant messaging app, KakaoTalk.

It was further reported that OpenAI secured a partnership with Japan’s Softbank in February 2025 to advance AI services for its customers in Japan.9

OpenAI’s Forge Price™ is $297.76 as of March 27, 2025, implying a valuation of $172.70 billion. The startup’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital and Y Combinator.

OpenAI is one of Forge’s Private Market Magnificent 7 companies.

Shield AI, defense software

San Diego, California-based Shield AI develops AI-powered autonomous systems for military applications, including aerial drones capable of navigating GPS and communication-denied environments.

Founded in 2015, Shield AI announced in March 2025 that the firm was partnering with Booz Allen Hamilton to deliver AI-enabled software to the U.S. military for a variety of defense operations. According to the company, the collaboration will provide efficient defense systems for the U.S. military.10

Shield AI’s Forge Price™ is $27.85 as of March 27, 2025, which implies a valuation of $5.30 billion. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Ark Invest, Snowpoint Ventures and Bloomberg.

Glean, AI work assistance application

Glean, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is an AI-powered work assistant that brings its users the answers they seek using state-of-the-art AI-enabled technology. Founded in 2019, the company has a mission to understand context, language, behavior and relationships to provide relevant information.

It was reported in February 2025 that the private company achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in its last fiscal year (2024). It was further reported that Glean doubled its customer base that same year.11

Glean’s Forge Price™ is $46.91 as of March 27, 2025, implying a valuation of $6.50 billion. The firm’s investors include Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Softbank and General Catalyst. According to its website12, Glean’s clients include Databricks, Rubrik, Samsung and Intuit.

Ripple, global payments platform

Ripple is a financial technology company focused on enabling financial institutions, businesses, governments and developers to move, manage and tokenize value to unlock greater opportunity. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ripple’s solutions include cross-border payments, crypto liquidity and central bank digital currencies.

It was reported earlier this year that Ripple’s custody product was in collaboration with institutional crypto storage firm BDACS to secure its holdings of XRP and its stablecoin RLUSD.13

Ripple’s Forge Price™ is $67.36 as of March 27, 2025, implying a valuation of $10.94 billion. The firm’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Ventures Partners, Blockchain Capital and Founders Fund.

1 Bloomberg, 3/21/25

2 CNBC, 2/11/25

3 The New York Times, 3/24/25

4 Reuters, 3/19/25

5 Forbes, 3/26/25

6 TechCrunch, 3/27/25

7 The Information, 3/11/25

8 Reuters, 2/24/25

9 Reuters, 24/25

10 Shield AI, 3/18/25

11 YahooFinance, 2/5/2025

12 https://www.glean.com/about

13 YahooFinance, 2/27/25

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OpenAI
$517.24+$219.48 (73.71%)
LFR Post-Money Valuation
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Anduril
$42.52+$12.74 (42.78%)
LFR Post-Money Valuation
$28B
xAI
$38.76+$17.11 (79.03%)
LFR Post-Money Valuation
$50B
About the Author

Chris Cannon develops lifecycle programs that engage Forge’s existing client base. Prior to joining Forge, he led audience engagement programs and newsletter operations at Investopedia, the global financial and investing media company. Chris received his MBA from East Carolina University and a BA in History from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Read more from Chris.

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