Setter30 - Tracking the Hottest VC Companies in Secondaries

Databricks is nearing a record-breaking $9.5 billion funding round, led by Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners, and GIC, valuing the firm at over $60 billion. The company is also pursuing $4.5 billion in debt financing to address expiring employee options. Krystal Hu, Kenrick Cai and Echo Jing Wang | Reuters https://lnkd.in/gTfD3HwC

Databricks, the fast-growing analytics software firm, is seeking $2.5 billion in private debt financing alongside an $8 billion equity raise led by Thrive Capital to address tax liabilities and enable employee stock sales. JPMorgan Chase is engaging lenders, including Blackstone, as Databricks continues its private capital strategy to delay an IPO amidst market shifts. Carmen Arroyo Nieto and Ellen Rose Schneider | BNN Bloomberg https://lnkd.in/eE9zmSxx

OpenAI Startup Fund has raised $44M for its fifth SPV, marking its largest to date. Backed by investors like Microsoft, the fund aims to support both its current portfolio companies and new investments. Noteworthy recent investments include Thrive Health, Unify, and Anysphere. Charles Rollet and Marina Temkin, CFA | TechCrunch https://lnkd.in/gSDFSGf5

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has raised an additional $6 billion in its second funding round of the year, with plans to expand its Colossus supercomputer from 100,000 to over a million NVIDIA GPUs. Notable past investors, like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, are expected to participate. Benzinga https://lnkd.in/gV2H9uQE

OpenAI has announced a $1.5 billion tender offer for employees to sell shares, with SoftBank Group Corp. as the buyer, while Klarna continues its AI-led profitability streak, cutting costs but facing rising loan defaults and funding expenses. Also of note, Revolut, Ramp, and N26 are making moves in the secondary markets, while November saw an increase in AI companies' bid volumes. https://lnkd.in/eTwY8RkC

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is reportedly planning a tender offer that could push its valuation to a record-breaking $350 billion. This move aims to provide liquidity options for employees and early investors, further cementing SpaceX's status as the most valuable private startup globally. Mudit Dube | NewsBytes https://lnkd.in/e5kb6ERc

Revolut, Europe's most valuable fintech, has announced a secondary share sale allowing former employees to cash in shares valued at its latest $45 billion valuation. This follows a previous sale for current employees and early backers supported by Goldman Sachs. The move highlights Revolut's resilience in the fintech landscape. Aisha S Gani | BNN Bloomberg https://lnkd.in/eibWkbyc

OpenAI is providing its employees with an opportunity to sell $1.5 billion worth of shares in a new tender offer to SoftBank Group Corp.. This comes on the heels of a $6.6 billion funding round in October that valued the AI startup at $157 billion. Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, continues to bolster his exposure to the AI space through investments in companies like OpenAI and Graphcore. Rishabh Jaiswal, Gnaneshwar Rajan and Angela Christy | Reuters

Swedish fintech Klarna continues its profitability streak, posting a net profit of €18.7m for Q3 2024 and prepping for a potential US IPO. The company has expanded from its buy now, pay later roots into a broader range of financial products and services and boasts backing from top investors like Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and BlackRock. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO, highlighted the company’s return to its historic profit and growth trajectory. Tom Matsuda | Sifted https://lnkd.in/evnZwxbN

Amazon expands its investment in Anthropic with an additional $4 billion, underscoring its aggressive push in the generative AI sector. Through this partnership, Amazon Web Services (AWS) becomes the primary training provider for Anthropic’s AI models, with new capabilities from Claude models already benefiting companies like Pfizer and Intuit. Estefano Gomez Ibias | Crypto Briefing https://lnkd.in/dErRYNQt