Edition 43

Welcome back to The Dealflow by Founders Capital - your inside track on the private markets. Each week, we cut through the noise to bring you the latest industry trends - along with our take.

Key News & Trends

Claude’s Cash Call

Anthropic reportedly doubled its funding target from $10 billion to $20 billion, targeting a valuation near $350 billion as demand for frontier AI exposure intensifies. The firm has also reportedly raised its revenue forecast - projecting sales will quadruple in 2026 to as much as $18 billion, reaching $55 billion in 2027. Read more here

OpenAI Weighs $100bn Raise at Up to $830bn Valuation as Amazon Talks Emerge 

OpenAI is reportedly exploring one of the largest private fundraises in history, seeking up to $100bn in fresh capital at a valuation of as much as $830bn, as it looks to secure long-term compute and infrastructure capacity. Amazon is said to be in talks to invest up to $50bn, a move that would deepen its strategic position in the AI stack via cloud, chips and distribution. Read more here

SpaceX in merger talks with xAI ahead of planned IPO

It’s been a busy week across the Musk empire. Tesla disclosed a $2bn investment into xAI, modestly deepening ties between its AI ambitions and Musk’s model stack despite some shareholder pushback. More significantly, SpaceX is reportedly in talks to merge with xAI ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO later this year, a move that would consolidate rockets, satellites, AI models and the X platform under one corporate structure — with reports also suggesting Musk has at least floated potential merger ideas involving Tesla. Read more here

Anduril’s AI Grand Prix Drone Contest

Defense tech giant Anduril has launched a global autonomous drone-racing competition where the prize isn’t just cash, it’s a job. Engineers are invited to build fully autonomous flight software to pilot identical high-speed drones through complex courses, with top performers earning $500k and an offer to join Anduril. Read more here

Founders’ Take

To IPO, or not to IPO?

This year, almost every investor is asking the same question: is the IPO window finally reopening?

Over the past decade, IPO timelines have stretched dramatically. Abundant private capital has allowed late-stage companies to fund growth, liquidity, and even secondary exits without subjecting themselves to the scrutiny, volatility, and quarterly pressure of the public markets.

But the calculus is starting to shift.

A growing cohort of companies has begun lining up banks, testing investor appetite, or even signalling tentative timelines.

One well-received IPO could act as a catalyst. A successful listing has the potential to reopen the floodgates, particularly for AI-led businesses, and set the tone for public market activity over the next 18–24 months.

That said, recent history looms large. The post-listing performance of companies like Klarna has forced many teams to ask a harder question: does going public actually serve long-term shareholder value, or simply introduce a new set of constraints?

Our view? Many late-stage private companies are approaching the ceiling of what private capital can sustainably provide. Liquidity, scale, and credibility increasingly point in one direction - expect several private-market giants to make the leap to Wall Street over the coming years.

Upcoming Events

Women+ Tech Leaders #4 - Using Culture as a Leadership Tool (Thursday 5th March)

Join London Tech Leaders for their first Women+ Tech Leaders event of the year during the week of International Women’s Day!

Culture is a very important part of technology teams, and as leaders, there can sometimes be a burden to create the ‘perfect’ culture. Women+ in tech may often end up being the ‘culture carriers’ - sometimes by choice, sometimes not. This event is a chance to learn from industry peers on how culture is created and nurtured in organisations.

Find out more and register here.

London Tech Leaders #23 - The Evolving CTO Mandate (Wednesday 25th March)

The explosion of new technologies has meant that the CTO has changed rapidly over the last 12-24 months and we are asking the questions that existing leaders really want to know.

Are you a leader that is at the top of their game that wants to network with other leaders and discuss your current experience with others in the industry? Are you a leader that feels behind in your role and needs to take your game to the next level? This may be the event for you.

Find out more and register here.

Top Venture Deals

Synthesia: $200M (GV, Nvidia NVentures, Accel)

• AI video generation startup Synthesia raised $200M at a $4B valuation, led by Alphabet’s GV with participation from Nvidia’s venture arm and top-tier growth funds. The UK-based company, which builds enterprise AI video and training tools, has reached ~$150M ARR and is pushing toward $200M as demand for internal communications and upskilling software accelerates. The round nearly doubles its valuation year-on-year and underscores continued investor appetite for applied AI beyond core model labs. Read more here

Cellares: $257M Series D (BlackRock, Eclipse,T. Rowe Price..)

• Cell therapy manufacturing startup Cellares raised $257M in a Series D co-led by BlackRock and Eclipse to scale its automated “Smart Factory” model globally. The company is replacing manual, artisanal biotech production with fully automated GMP-compliant platforms, claiming up to ~10× throughput and materially lower per-patient costs, as it positions itself as the industrial backbone for next-gen cell therapies. Read more here

Northwood Space: $100M Series B (a16z, Washington Harbour Partners)

• Satellite communications infrastructure startup Northwood Space secured $100M in Series B funding alongside a ~$50M U.S. Space Force contract to modernise ground-station networks. Focused on phased-array antenna systems and vertically integrated ground solutions, the company is targeting the growing bottleneck in satellite data transmission as constellations scale from dozens to hundreds of orbiting assets. Read more here

Upcoming Public Offerings

Asia: IPO Window Swings Wide Open

• Asian equity markets are seeing a surge of global capital, driving record index highs and a sharp acceleration in IPO activity across China, India, Japan, and South Korea. IPO proceeds in Asia-Pacific more than doubled year-on-year, with seven of the world’s ten largest listings coming from the region, signalling a meaningful shift in public-market momentum away from purely U.S.-centric tech debuts toward a broader geographic reopening of the IPO pipeline. Read more here

SpaceX

• Elon Musk is reportedly considering a mid-June IPO for SpaceX that could raise up to ~$50B at a valuation near $1.5T, potentially the largest public listing in history. Read more here

Already a member? 

Sign in to access the Founders Capital portal.

Looking to join? 

Apply to join Founders Capital today.

Founders Capital is the trading name of FC Group Holding Ltd. FC Group Holding Ltd is an Appointed Representative of 8point8 Capital Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 936586).

This communication is being sent confidentially on a restricted basis for information and discussion purposes only. It does not constitute a financial promotion and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Membership of Founders Capital is restricted to recipients who are eligible to receive exempt financial promotions under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005.