Startup Trends: Q3 yields more $1B+ funding rounds

Fundraising for frontier technology companies remained elevated in the third quarter of the year. The securing of capital rounds, at or above $1 billion, underscores the heightened investor interest.

Five such companies made the list of top funding rounds last quarter. And with these capital raises comes demand for tomorrow’s results. With that, these are some of the Forge listed companies worth watching in the months to come.

Anthropic, $13B Series F

San Francisco-based Anthropic is first on the list of top funding rounds in the third quarter, having secured $13 billion in a Series F raise in September. The round’s participants included investors Blackrock, Coatue, General Catalyst and Insight Partners.¹ The AI research and safety firm has experienced rapid growth since the introduction of its Claude product in early 2023.

According to the company, its revenue run-rate grew to over $5 billion as of August 2025. In a company statement, Anthropic stated it will use the funds to meet its growing enterprise client base, expand its safety research and support its product expansion internationally.

Founded in 2021, Anthropic’s Forge Price™ is $162.15 as of October 16, 2025, implying a valuation of $210.50 billion.

Thinking Machines Lab, $2B seed round

Thinking Machine Labs, an artificial intelligence and data science company founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, had the second-highest funding round for the third quarter. Its $2 billion seed round, raised in July, puts the startup’s post-money valuation at $12 billion, a huge feat for such an early-stage firm.

At the same time as the funding round, Murati took to X to announce that Thinking Machine Labs would soon launch its first open-source product to help developers create custom AI models. Murati also stated the fundraise will further support the private company in this endeavor.²

Founded in 2024, San Francisco-based Thinking Machine Labs’ price per share is $286.24 as of this latest seed round. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, Conviction Partners and Accel.

Databricks, $1B Series K

Another San Francisco-based company, data and AI heavyweight Databricks, also made the list of highest funding rounds for the third quarter. Its Series K fundraise of just over $1 billion in September places its post-money valuation at over $100 billion. The news of the fundraise came at the same time it announced a $4 billion annualized revenue projection for the year.³

The new valuation puts Databricks in the same club as private companies SpaceX, ByteDance and OpenAI, all of which have crossed the $100 billion valuation threshold.⁴ Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi told CNBC the fresh capital will be used for product and AI-enabled software development.

Founded in 2013, Databricks’ Forge Price™ is $180.00 as of October 16, 2025, implying a valuation of $120 billion. Its notable investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, ClearBridge Investments and Battery Ventures.

Cerebras, $1.1B Series G

AI infrastructure producer Cerebras announced it had raised $1.1 billion in a Series G round in September. According to Sunnyvale-based Cerebras, this latest capital raise puts the firm at an $8.1 billion valuation.⁵ The private company will use the funds for research and development of its pioneering AI supercomputers and other related products.

Founded in 2016, the technology company has commissioned studies that show its AI chips outperform its competitor Nvidia in output speeds as much as 20x. The firm also has a notable slate of clients that include Meta, AWS, IBM and GlaxoSmithKline.

Cerebras’ Forge Price™ as of October 16, 2025, is $36.07, implying a valuation of $8.06 billion. The private company’s investors include Fidelity, Benchmark, Coatue Management and Eclipse Ventures.

PsiQuantum, $1B Series E

Quantum computing solutions provider PsiQuantum announced a $1 billion Series E fundraise in September. The firm announced the new capital will help it build the world’s first commercial-use, fault-tolerant quantum computing system.⁶ This latest fundraise private company at a $7 billion valuation.

Founded in 2015, PsiQuantum is reportedly breaking new ground in Chicago’s Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park as of late September. The new spot will serve as a location for PsiQuantum’s research and development of its enterprise grade quantum systems.⁷

PsiQuantum’s Forge Price™ is $31.46 as of October 16, 2025, implying a valuation of $4.98 billion. Its notable investors include Ribbit Capital, NVentures, Temasek and Founders Fund.