The AI race has gotten so expensive that private funding just isn’t cutting it anymore. These 7 companies are heading to public markets.
OpenAI — Currently valued at $830 billion, could hit a trillion at IPO. Sam Altman isn’t thrilled about going public but the company needs massive capital. Ads are coming to ChatGPT too.
Anthropic — $350 billion valuation, already doing $9 billion ARR, targeting $20 billion this year. They’ve hired the law firm behind Google and LinkedIn’s IPOs — things are getting serious.
SpaceX —
After acquiring xAI, valuation hit $1.25 trillion. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan are all lined up to lead the offering. Musk wants it in June — apparently timed to his birthday.
Canva —
$42 billion valuation, 240 million users, and 8 straight years of being cash-flow positive. Going after Adobe’s throne.
Strava —
The fitness app that gamified running has confidentially filed at a $2.2 billion valuation with 180 million users.
Databricks —
AI data platform sitting at $134 billion valuation. CEO has been saying they’re “IPO ready since 2020.”
Cohere —
Toronto-based enterprise AI startup, $240 million ARR — the serious contender nobody’s really talking about.
Big picture – US listings dropped from 397 in 2021 to just 202 last year, but the AI boom is pulling everyone back in. If even half of these go through, 2026 could rewrite IPO history.