Startup Trends: 10 of the most valuable private companies in 2025
The race to build the next generation of global champions is happening long before an IPO. This month, we spotlight the 10 most valuable private companies on Forge’s platform, ranked by either their Forge Price™ or by the valuation implied by their latest fundraise. Together, these companies represent hundreds of billions of dollars in enterprise value across sectors like artificial intelligence, fintech, enterprise software, and consumer platforms.
For investors looking to understand where late-stage capital is concentrating — and where future IPO supply may come from — these 10 companies offer a real-time snapshot of how the private market is pricing scale, innovation, and the path from unicorn to the public-market. Furthermore, six of these high-value companies are listed as one of Forge’s Private Magnificent 7, demonstrating potential for continued growth and innovation.
OpenAI, $500 billion valuation
The maker of foundational AI technologies, including its popular ChatGPT and creative engine DALL-E, OpenAI sits at the top of private market valuations for 2025. The private company’s Forge Price™ is $723.00 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $499.92 billion.
OpenAI achieved its valuation milestone after it closed a secondary share sale to its employees totaling $6.6 billion and putting its post-money valuation at $500 billion. The AI company is reportedly the most valuable private company in the world.1 The San Francisco-based firm continues its focus on expanding its enterprise offerings and growing subscription revenue.
Founded in 2015, OpenAI’s notable investors include Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive and K2 Global.
ByteDance, $480 billion valuation
Beijing-based ByteDance hosts an extensive suite of global portfolio of social apps, including its popular video app TikTok. In November, Hong Kong-based investment firm Capital Today won a bid to purchase an equity block of ByteDance, which valued the company at $480 billion.
The news of ByteDance’s recent equity buyout comes shortly after the media company made an offer in December to buy back shares from employees at a valuation of $330 billion.2 The company’s recent product focus has been on including voice assistants and AI agents in its user platforms.3
Founded in 2012, ByteDance’s roster of notable investors includes All Blue Capital, Base Partners, Hillhouse Capital Group and FoundersX Ventures.
Anthropic, $350 billion valuation
Known for its Claude models and enterprise AI-enabled solutions, San Francisco-based Anthropic has rapidly scaled in generative AI and safe AI research. Anthropic’s Forge Price™ is $185.90 as of December 11, 2025, implying a post-money valuation of $241.33 billion. Most recently, the private company secured an investment deal with Microsoft and Nvidia that will push its valuation to $350 billion in the coming months once finalized.4
Founded in 2021, Anthropic has quickly become an enterprise technology leader, which now holds 32% of the LLM market share in terms of business-related usage, while rival OpenAI is second with 25% of market share.5 It is widely reported that Anthropic is eyeing a potential IPO for 2026.6
Anthropic’s notable investors include ICONIQ Capital, Blackrock, Coatue Management and Google.
SpaceX, $210 Billion Valuation
Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Hawthorne, California, SpaceX remains a dominant force in the private market, driven by its Starlink global expansion of broadband services and its rocket launch business. SpaceX’s Forge Price™ as of December 11, 2025, is $263.22, implying a valuation of $497.98 billion. In June of 2024, SpaceX made a tender offer for a secondary sale that valued the company at $210 billion.7
As of early December, SpaceX reports it has launched over 600 rockets, signaling its focus on mission increase and Starlink reach.8 The company aims to send its first rocket to the planet Mars by 2026.9 SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, is reportedly looking into potentially taking the aerospace company public in 2026. It is reported that the IPO could be worth up to $1.5 trillion, putting its IPO valuation at record levels.10
SpaceX’s notable investors include Founders Fund, Fidelity Investments, Valor Equity Partners and DBL Investors.
xAI, $200 Billion Valuation
xAI has emerged in recent years as a high-profile AI venture with strong alignment to founder Elon Musk’s broader ecosystem. The Palo Alto, California-based company is known for its Grok model family, developed in 2023 as the primary AI assistant to Musk’s X social media platform and creator tools. xAI’s Forge Price™ is $79.60 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $245.03 billion. It was reported in September that the company was raising $10 billion at a $200 billion valuation.11
xAI has signaled its intent to compete with its other two rivals OpenAI and Anthropic. The company has invested heavily in its Colossus supercomputer project, a Memphis-based GPU cluster, and one of the largest of its kind in the world. The endeavor will allow xAI to use chipmaker Nvidia’s technology to power their development at scale.12
xAI’s notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and Sequoia Capital.
Databricks, $100 billion valuation
Founded in 2013, enterprise software firm Databricks is a private company that offers businesses operational technology to improve their analytics, supply chains, and productivity. In recent years, the platform has integrated AI-enabled systems to improve its product offerings.13 Based in San Francisco, Databricks’ Forge Price™ is $195.94 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $131.27 billion. In August, the tech company raised a Series K round of $1.13 billion, putting its post-money valuation at $100 billion.14
Databricks has a plan to reach a $1 trillion valuation. The firm’s CEO, Ali Ghodsi, told the Wall Street Journal in August that the private company could achieve this through a “trifecta strategy” of entering the transactional database market, improving its “Agent Bricks” AI assistant platform and evolving its suite of apps with AI-enabled tools.15
Databricks’ investors include Ark Venture Fund, Irving Investors, Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue Management.
Revolut, $75 billion valuation
London-based Revolut is a fintech company that offers a variety of consumer and business-related financial services, including payments, investments and banking products. The private company’s mission is to provide its clients the tools to help them reach financial freedom. Revolut’s Forge Price™ is $1,381.06 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $75 billion.
Revolut has been making strides recently to increase its product reach. In October, the firm started allowing its users to trade stablecoin with no fees. The no-fee structure for stablecoin could bring in new consumers to its suite of other financial services products. Revolut’s crypto services contributed $594 million last year, a 298% jump from the prior year. The company claims 65 million global users use its platform today.16
Founded in 2013, Revolut’s investors include Target Global, Seven Investments, Softbank Investment Advisors and G Squared.
Stripe, $92 billion valuation
Founded in 2010, Stripe remains a pillar of global digital payments infrastructure, providing enterprises with efficient ways to accept online purchases from customers and run technically sophisticated financial operations. Stripe’s Forge Price™ is $36.29 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $92.37 billion. In February of 2025, Stripe announced a tender offer for its employees, which valued the company at $91.5 billion.
Stripe has been rapidly evolving its financial products to integrate with AI technology. In December, the fintech company announced its Agentic Commerce Suite, which allows commerce companies to sell across various AI agents.17 At the same time, Stripe formed a partnership with Atlanta-based Rithum, a global commerce solutions provider. The partnership will allow businesses to efficiently syndicate their product offerings across AI mediums.18
Stripe has dual headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin, Ireland. The private company’s notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Allen and Company.
Ripple, $40 billion valuation
San Francisco-based Ripple leverages blockchain technology to power cross-border payments for financial institutions. Ripple’s solutions include crypto liquidity and central bank digital currencies. Ripple’s Forge Price™ is $172.16 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $28.31 billion. Just this month, Ripple closed a late-stage funding round of $500 million, which put the company’s post-money valuation at $40 billion.19
Ripple has recently signaled its intent to further its global footprint. The fintech company received approval this month to expand its payments product into Singapore, reaching millions more potential customers. According to the company, the Asia Pacific region leads the world in crypto payment usage.20
Founded in 2012, Ripple’s investors include Blockchain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Route 66 Ventures.
Figure AI, $39 billion valuation
Seen as an up-and-coming competitor to some of the top names in generative AI, Figure AI is working on experiences that are helpful to everyday consumers. The private company is developing humanoid robotics that can aid in warehouses, transportation, manufacturing and logistics. Figure AI’s Forge Price™ is $174.00 as of December 11, 2025, implying a valuation of $34.22 billion. The company closed a Series C fundraise in September, which placed its post-money valuation at $39 billion.
In addition to its development of robotics software for businesses, the firm has recently focused on helping humans with everyday tasks through its “Helix” prototype. Still in its infancy, Helix can fold laundry and load a dishwasher. Figure AI hopes over time that it can develop its robots to do more complex tasks in the home.21
Founded in 2019, San Francisco-based Figure AI’s investors include Ark Venture Fund, Habitat Partners, Microsoft and Nvidia.
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