Startup Trends: 10 Companies with highest investor demand in Q2 2025
Investor interest in private markets remained resilient in Q2 2025, as technology-focused companies across artificial intelligence, fintech, aerospace, and defense continued to capture capital.
Based on investor indications of interest (IOIs), here are the 10 private companies that led investor demand on Forge’s marketplace in Q2 2025.
1. OpenAI, a generative AI leader
San Francisco-based OpenAI is an AI and research company focused on artificial general intelligence research and commercialization, developing advanced models like ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Sora. It provides APIs and enterprise tools to help organizations integrate generative AI into products and workflows.
Founded in 2015, the startup achieved a funding round of $40B in March of 2025 which placed the firm at a $300 billion post-money valuation at the time.
In June of 2025, Barbie-maker Mattel announced a partnership with OpenAI to develop an AI-powered product this year.1 This strategic initiative comes on the heels of the company hitting the $10 billion mark in annual recurring revenue thus far.2
OpenAI’s Forge Price™ is $469.47 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $324.62 billion. Its notable investors include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Y Combinator, and Khosla Ventures.
2. Hugging Face, an open-source AI platform
New York-based Hugging Face is a collaborative hub for AI developers and researchers to share and deploy machine learning models. Its open-source repositories and transformers library are widely used in academia and industry.
In April of this year, the private company announced its acquisition of Pollen Robotics, the maker of the Reachy 2 humanoid robot. This marks the company’s expansion into physical AI systems and enhances its multimodal AI capabilities.3 This expansion is further evidenced by Hugging Face’s recent release of its 3-D printed robotic arm for industry use.4
Founded in 2016, Hugging Face’s investors include Mozilla Ventures, Mercuri, Premji Invest, and Thirtyfive Ventures. The tech company’s price per share was $25.25 as of its August 2023 funding round, placing its post-money valuation at $4.57 billion.
3. SpaceX, a space and satellite infrastructure pioneer
Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches rockets and other spacecraft. Its Starlink satellite network is central to its mission of global internet access, and it continues advancing space logistics for both commercial and defense applications.
SpaceX has been making multiple test flights of its rockets this year with varying results to achieve the Mars initiative.5 It is reported that successful tests could lead to human landings on Mars as soon as 2029. Musk has previously stated his hopes that SpaceX could land the first humanoid robot on the red planet by the end of next year.6
SpaceX’s Forge Price™ is $224.82 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $425.34 billion. The private company’s notable investors include Rothenburg Ventures, Musket Research Associates, and Founders Fund.
4. xAI, an AI challenger
Founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, xAI is focused on building AI systems that are “maximally curious” and aligned with human values.7 The company recently merged with Musk’s social media platform X, integrating its chatbot Grok into broader consumer applications.
Most recently, xAI has reportedly been seeking a 4.3 billion fundraise, designed to help it compete against more prominent challengers in the sector.8 This news comes while data solutions provider Oracle Cloud is going to add Grok 3 models for use by its corporate clients.9
Founded in 2023, the technology startup‘s Forge Price™ is $39.44 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $91.09 billion. Its investors include 369 Growth Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Beyond Alpha Ventures, and Ark Investment Management.
5. Mercury, fintech infrastructure for startups
San Francisco-based Mercury provides banking services tailored for startups and small businesses, including FDIC-insured accounts, credit cards, capital tools, and APIs. It aims to streamline financial operations for founders.
Founded in 2017, the private company secured a recent funding haul of $300 million in a Series C round closed in March of 2025. This put Mercury’s post-money valuation at $3.5 billion.10
Mercury has also built its community platform of tech startup founders offering connections, advice, and resources, according to its website. The platform is designed to “propel your startup forward,” and contains an investor database as part of its forum.11
Mercury’s Forge Price™ is $13.62 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $3.69 billion. The tech company’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Dreamers VC, Quiet Capital, and Spark Capital.
6. Ripple, blockchain-based payments network
San Francisco-based Ripple enables real-time global payments using blockchain and its XRP token. The company works with banks and financial institutions to streamline cross-border transactions using its RippleNet platform.
In April 2025, Ripple acquired Hidden Road, a prime brokerage for the crypto industry. The deal was for $1.25 billion and is reportedly one of the largest deals in the crypto sector to date.12 The merger demonstrates Ripple’s potential to expand its services beyond its core crypto payments services.
Founded in 2012, Ripple’s Forge Price™ is $73.52 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $11.94 billion. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, Founders Fund, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
7. Neuralink, brain-computer interface innovator
Fremont, California-based Neuralink is developing implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that aim to restore motor function, treat neurological conditions, and eventually enhance cognitive ability for those who have sustained brain impairments.
Co-founded by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, the private company has been conducting human tests on its brain chips for the last two years. After it received FDA approval for these phases of testing in 2023, Neuralink stated that this, “represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people.13
Earlier this year, the health-tech company secured its largest funding round to date, nearly $600 million raised placing its post-money valuation at $9 billion.14
Neuralink’s Forge Price™ is $58.88 as of June 18, 2025, implying a valuation of $10.79 billion. The startup’s investors include Founders Fund, Craft Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital.
8. SandboxAQ, enterprise quantum and AI solutions
Palo Alto, California-based SandboxAQ delivers quantum computing and AI solutions for cybersecurity, drug discovery, and materials science. It operates as a post-quantum SaaS provider to governments and large enterprises.
In April of 2025, the private company secured a Series E funding round of $450 million which placed its post-money valuation at $5.75 billion. The round included prominent investors Google, Nvidia and BNP Paribas.15
This latest funding haul comes on the heels of the firm’s announcement of its latest navigation platform AQNav, designed to join global navigational systems and AI-enabled software to maneuver through jammed spaces due to weather or other interferences.16
Founded in 2021, the tech startup’s Forge Price™ is $15.49 as of June 20, 2025, putting its implied valuation at $5.20 billion. SandboxAQ’s notable investors include T. Rowe Price, Paladin Capital Group, Breyer Capital Group, and Section 32.
9. Anduril, a defense tech company
Based in Irvine, California, Anduril builds autonomous systems, artificial intelligence platforms, and counter-drone technology for the U.S. and its allied defense forces.
The defense tech has been steadily winning new contracts with world governments. In June 2025, Anduril partnered with German defense systems contractor Rheinmetall to build aerial drones for the German military. It signals Anduril’s ambitions of providing more of its products and services within the European market.17
That same month, Anduril closed its largest funding haul to date of $2.5 billion in a Series G round led by Founders Fund, bringing its post-money valuation to over $30 billion.18
Founded in 2017, Anduril’s Forge Price™ is $40.88 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $30.50 billion. The aerospace and defense company’s notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, 137 Ventures, D1 Capital Partners, and Spark Capital.
10. Databricks, a data and AI-enabled company
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, Databricks is a data and AI-enabled company that offers a unified analytics platform for processing and analyzing large-scale data to enterprises.
The firm recently told investors in June that it expects to hit $3.7 billion in annualized revenue in the following month.19
The news comes shortly after 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 software solutions. Databricks has over 10,000 customers, including Comcast, Conde Nast and Block, all with the ability to deploy AI agents with the new initiative.20
Databrick’s Forge Price™ is $112.75 as of June 20, 2025, implying a valuation of $75.63 billion. The firm’s notable investors include Ark Venture Fund, Irving Investors, 535 West, and Berkeley Frontier Fund.
