OpenAI is in talks to raise a new round of funding at a valuation of more than $100 billion, sources told the Wall Street Journal this week.
It seems that investors have already proven their willingness to value the company at such a high level to obtain a prestigious position in the company.
Several firms tracking the deals found that investors paid prices that suggested a valuation of more than $100 billion.
The initial deal being negotiated by OpenAI, which will be led by Josh Kushner’s investment firm Thrive Capital, will reportedly offer $1 billion.
There have also been reports that tech giants like Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple are likely to join as investors. This would be a major development for the AI leader. The company was recently valued at $86 billion in a secondary sale that included existing shares in September, Bloomberg reported.
Rainmaker Securities, for its part, saw investors bidding on OpenAI shares at prices that value the company at about $143 billion.
Caplight, a secondary deal data tracking platform, estimates that OpenAI is currently worth more than $111 billion based on secondary deal activity and previous traditional funding rounds.
As the company’s valuation has risen rapidly, so has its revenue, said Greg Martin, co-founder and managing director of Rainmaker Securities. While OpenAI is reportedly still spending heavily, Martin noted that the company has gone from having no revenue a few years ago to having billions today.
“Obviously it’s hard to put a precise valuation on OpenAI, but we’re seeing a lot of demand,” Martin said. “There’s a fear of missing out on the high valuations that the company is achieving. There’s certainly a strong case that the company could be worth $1 trillion someday.”
