Startup Trends: Q3’s 10 companies with the highest investor demand

Every quarter, it can be worth looking back at the companies that drew outsized investor demand on Forge based on secondary market interest to see what’s changed and if there are any new additions to the list versus last quarter. On the Forge marketplace, accredited investors place bids on companies whose shares they’re interested in acquiring. The most bids placed for a company in each quarter qualify it for the list.

Included below are the 10 private companies that made the list for highest demand for Q3. Together, these private companies span the arenas of frontier tech, particularly AI, semiconductors, and infrastructure plays.

1. xAI, AI research firm

Artificial intelligence (AI) research firm xAI offers AI models to organizations and businesses to aid them in better operations and efficiencies. Founded by Elon Musk in 2023, the firm made the top of the list as one of the companies with the most investor bids for the third quarter.

xAI is one of a handful of AI-related companies approved by the U.S. government for employee use as of August.¹ The deal allows for the use of xAI’s advanced reasoning models provided by its Grok 4 product. And in September, xAI announced it was developing an informational service dubbed “Grokipedia” to compete with the popular digital encyclopedia, Wikipedia.²

Palo Alto-based xAI’s Forge Price™ is $39.67 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $91.62 billion. Its notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, K5 Global and Tribe Capital. xAI was recently added to Forge’s Private Magnificent 7 due to driving growth in the private market.

2. OpenAI, generative AI technology

A competitor of xAI, OpenAI provides reasoning and generative AI models for individuals and enterprises. Founded in 2015 and based in San Francisco, the private company’s Chat-GPT was the first of its kind to launch for individual use.

OpenAI has been quickly innovating. Most recently, the firm has been developing a social and video-generating application dubbed “Sora” to compete with the likes of TikTok.³ The application is designed to allow users to share video “cameos” with their friends and allow algorithmic servicing of content relevant to the user’s interests.

OpenAI’s latest Forge Price™ is $732.12 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $500 billion. The AI company’s notable investors include Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive and K2 Global.

3. Anduril, defense technology

Irvine-based Anduril is a defense and aerospace company that provides governments with technological solutions for their militaries and other defensive needs. Anduril was recently added to Forge’s Private Magnificent 7 as a high-growth, innovative company.

Like the other companies that made this quarter’s list of highly demanded companies, Anduril is innovating at a fast pace. The Australian government recently invested $1.1 billion in Anduril to develop its underwater drone technology, dubbed “ghost shark.” The private company has also been contracted with the U.S. government to integrate AI capabilities into its military solutions.⁴

Founded in 2017, Anduril’s Forge Price™ is $70.92 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $52.91 billion. The private company’s notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 8VC and Counterpoint Global.

4. SpaceX, aerospace technology

Aerospace company SpaceX provides launch services to commercial clients, governments and private enterprises. Its Falcon 9 and Dragon Capsule are such launch vehicles that are reusable for SpaceX’s clients.

Founded in 2002, the firm most recently partnered with U.S. space department NASA to use one of its rockets to orbit, observe and study atmospheric and ocean conditions.⁵ Furthermore, its founder, Elon Musk, has frequently announced his ambitions to send a manned mission to the planet Mars by 2029 using a SpaceX rocket.⁶

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX’s Forge Price™ is $237.14 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $448.64 billion. The company’s investors include Zillow Group, Founders Fund, Fidelity Investments and 137 Ventures.

5. Anthropic, AI-enabled solutions

Another AI company deemed in high demand and a new company that made Forge’s Private Magnificent 7 recently is Anthropic. Founded in 2021, the private company offers AI models focused on alignment and safety to organizations and developers.

Most recently, Anthropic announced the launch of its latest product, Claude Sonnet 4.5. The San-Francisco-based company reported this new model can code complex, multi-step tasks and maintain its focus on these tasks for up to 30 hours at a time. Anthropic sees this latest product as “the best coding model in the world” and a better alternative to OpenAI’s coding model.⁷

Anthropic’s Forge Price™ is $162.15 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $177.8 billion. The AI company’s investors include ICONIQ Capital, Blackrock, Coatue Management and Bessemer Venture Partners.

6. Databricks, analytics solutions

San Francisco-based Databricks is a data analytics solutions platform designed to help enterprises process large-scale and complex data sets. The firm’s goal is to help engineers simplify tasks that require data integration.

Founded in 2013, Databricks recently announced a $100 million deal with AI research firm OpenAI to sell AI-enabled data solutions to its clients.⁸ The news comes after the data company announced a new round of $1 billion in capital raised at a valuation of nearly $100 billion.⁹

Databricks’ Forge Price™ is $180 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $120 billion. The private company’s notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity.

7. Perplexity, conversational AI platform

Perplexity is a conversational AI platform that provides language models for search engines. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco, the private company aims to help its users get answers to everyday questions. Perplexity is new to the quarterly list of high-demand companies, having not been included last quarter.

Perplexity has recently tried to position itself as a leader among the more popular AI systems. To gain more users, the firm recently announced that its AI-enabled search engine “Comet” would be available for free. It will offer its paid subscribers more advanced features, like its “background assistant” to help users with everyday tasks.¹⁰ Perplexity also recently launched an “autonomous email assistant” that uses AI-enablement to manage its users’ email preferences and inboxes.¹¹

Perplexity’s Forge Price™ is $695.44, implying a valuation of $20.02 billion as of October 6, 2025. The firm’s notable investors include Nvidia, Bessemer Venture Partners, Camford Capital and Mana Ventures.

8. Groq, AI chipmaker

Groq is a computing solutions company that services individuals and businesses with tools to lower latency and provide better processing performance using AI-enablement and chip technology.

Founded in 2016, the private company recently doubled its valuation to $6.9 billion in a funding round. The $750 million fundraise was led by VC firm Disruptive with participation from Blackrock, Neuberger Berman and Telekom Capital Partners.¹² Earlier this year, Groq announced plans for a new data center in Helsinki, Finland, to meet the demand in the European region for AI chip technology.¹³

Groq’s Forge Price™ is $32.00 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $6.87 billion. Other investors of the private company include Type One Ventures, Cisco Investments, TDK Ventures and NFJ Capital. Groq is another newcomer to the quarterly list of high-demand firms when compared to the second quarter.

9. Cerebras, computing solutions

Cerebras is another computing solutions firm that offers AI-enabled technology to improve system performance for enterprises. Founded in 2016, Cerebras was added to the list of high-demand companies this quarter, while not being a part of the list last quarter.

The private company recently announced its Series G fundraise, which amounted to $1.1 billion, putting the AI hardware firm at an $8.1 billion valuation. The round was co-led by Fidelity and Atreides Management with participation from Tiger Global, Valor Equity Partners and 1789 Capital. This funding haul is Cerebras’ largest capital raise to date, and it will be put towards expanding its data center footprint, according to the company.¹⁴

Cerebras’ Forge Price™ is $36.00 as of October 6, 2025. Other investors include Alpha Wave Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Foundation Capital and Eclipse Ventures.

10. Kraken, cryptocurrency exchange

A new company on the list of Q3’s highest demanded firms was Kraken. Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange company that allows its users to store, buy and sell digital assets. Based in San Francisco, Kraken was one of the first U.S. crypto companies to receive a state-chartered banking license.

The private company could soon have more capital. It was reported last month that the crypto exchange was seeking investment at a $20 billion valuation.¹⁵ Reports cited that as much as $200 to $300 million could be raised. The news comes on the heels of Kraken’s announcement of its new ”Perps” trading product, which allows users to invest in crypto futures using predictive pricing movements.¹⁶

Kraken’s Forge Price™ is $45.32 as of October 6, 2025, implying a valuation of $13.92 billion. Its notable investors include Tribe Capital, Blockchain Capital and Soul Capital.