MS News & Events

Cognition AI and Modal both landed major new funding rounds this week, underscoring continued investor appetite for AI infrastructure and agentic AI platforms. Cognition AI said it has raised more than $1B at a $26B valuation, while Modal secured $355M in fresh financing led by Redpoint Ventures and General Catalyst, lifting its valuation to $4.65B from $1.1B last fall.Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:Cognition AI– The company said it has raised more than $1B in a new funding round at a $26B valuation. Venture firms Lux Capital, General Catalyst and 8VC co-led the financing. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Palantir, C3 AI, and IBM.Modal– The AI startup raised $355M in a new round of financing, valuing the company at $4.65B. The company's new round was led by Redpoint Ventures and General Catalyst, which will have a board seat. The Series C round values the company at $4.65B, up from $1.1B in the fall. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet.Stord– The consumer experience company announced a $250M Series F funding at a $3B valuation. The round was led by existing investors. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Prologis, Shopify, and Manhattan Associates.Farther– The intelligent wealth management company raised $150M in Series D funding. The round was led by General Atlantic, a leading global investor, with participation from existing investors. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, and Robinhood.MidOcean Energy– The liquefied natural gas company formed and managed by EIG announced a $120M equity investment from The Arab Energy Fund. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Cheniere Energy, Tellurian, and Exxon Mobil.Unicorns to watch this week:Safe Superintelligence– Operating in the AI sector, Safe Superintelligence remains a major narrative driver in the ongoing "AI safety vs. capabilities" debate. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Alphabet.Via Transportation– The transit tech unicorn builds software for public transit agencies and on demand mobility systems. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Uber, Lyft, and Trimble.Netskope– The cybersecurity company specializes in Secure Access Service Edge, cloud security, zero trust network access, and CASB/SWG. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks, and Cloudflare.Unconventional AI– Positioned as a challenger to Nvidia dominated compute with a radically energy efficient architecture, the company recently raised a $475M seed round at a $4.5B valuation. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.Chai Discovery– The AI for molecular programming company closed a $130M Series B, reaching a $1.3B valuation. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Schrodingerand Recursion Pharmaceuticals.IPOs to watch:SpaceX– The company officially submitted its Form S-1 with the SEC to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SPCX. Expected to be the largest IPO in history, the company targets raising up to $80B at a valuation exceeding $2T.Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Company– The company announced the launch of its initial public offering of 20M shares of its common stock. In connection with the offering, Sunshine expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 shares of common stock. The IPO price is expected to be between $13.50-$16.50 per share. Sunshine's common stock has been approved for listing, subject to official notice of issuance, under the ticker symbol "SSMR" on the New York Stock Exchange.Innio– The company announced that it has publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its common shares. The timing of the offering, number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Innio has applied to list its common shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "INIO." Innio designs, manufactures and services power systems under its Jenbacher and Waukesha brands. The company delivers power for applications including data centers, microgrids, grid stabilization, industrial energy and gas compression.Inspire Brands– The company announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. Inspire Brands expects to use the net proceeds of the proposed offering to repay outstanding indebtedness under its existing term loan facility and pay offering fees and expenses.Tarsier Pharma Ltd.– The company filed for an initial public offering of its ordinary shares and applied to list its ordinary shares on the NYSE American under the symbol "TARX." The prospectus stated, "Tarsier Pharma is developing TRS01 and TRS02, novel product candidates based on dazdotuftide, a new molecule with a new mechanism of action for uveitis and uveitic glaucoma. We are attempting to address a significant, underserved market opportunity and have engaged closely with the FDA on our clinical development strategy, including a Special Protocol Assessment agreement for our planned pivotal trial... Although we are still early in this journey, I believe we have the technology, the team, the discipline, and the persistence required to build an enduring company.""Private Markets" is The Fly's recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.

SpaceX and OpenAI are moving toward blockbuster public listings, with both companies accelerating their IPO timelines, according to new reports. Reuters says SpaceX is now targeting June 11 for pricing and could debut as early as June 12, while the Financial Times reports OpenAI is preparing to file for a listing as soon as this week, aiming for a potential September IPO that could value the company at more than $1T.This week's private company news:Elon Musk's rocket and satellite maker SpaceXis planning to price its blockbuster IPO as early as June 11 and has picked Nasdaq as its listing venue, Reuters' Echo Wang and Anirban Sen, citing people familiar with the matter. SpaceX has accelerated its IPO timeline and is now aiming to flip its prospectus public as early as next Wednesday, with a roadshow launch targeted for June 4 and a market debut as early as June 12, according to three people familiar with the matter.OpenAI is preparing to file for a public listing as early as this week, with the AI lab aiming for a blockbuster initial public offering as soon as September, Financial Times' George Hammond. The company has been laying the groundwork for an offering expected to value it at north of $1T, working with bankers at Morgan Stanleyand Goldman Sachsand lawyers at Cooley over the past few months, according to people familiar with the matter. The group could file a draft IPO prospectus as early as Friday, starting the timer on a public listing for the autumn, they added. That timing could shift depending on the market and on the performance of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is expected to go public next month in the biggest listing of all time, the author notes.Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:Anduril– The defense contractor announced a $5B Series H funding, led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include AeroVironment, L3Harris, and Lockheed Martin.VoltaGrid– The meter power generation company raised $1B in in investment from Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Halliburton and signed a deal to acquire its main manufacturing partner, Propell Energy Technology. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Bloom Energy, Generac, and Plug Power.Amca– The aerospace and defense components company said it raised $300M in Series B funding. The round was by Amca's Series A lead, Caffeinated Capital, with major participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and continued support from existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Construct Capital, and House Capital. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Rockwell Automation, Emerson Electric, and Teradyne.Armada– The company announced a $230M oversubscribed Series B financing round with a pre-money valuation of $2B. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Fastly, Cloudflare, and Akamai.Mercury– The technology company providing different banking announced a $200 million Series D at a $5.2B valuation, led by TCV. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Block, PayPal, and SoFi.Unicorns to watch this week:Cohere– The enterprise LLMs and AI platform has an estimated valuation of $5B, and it is expanding its Command model family and deepening partnerships with Oracleand AWS. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon.Inflection AI– The company is valued at about $4B and is pivoting from consumer chatbot Pi to enterprise AI agents after major investment from Microsoft and Nvidia. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Microsoft, Salesforce, and Meta.Wiz– With an estimated valuation of $12B, the company is one of the fastest growing cybersecurity startups ever. Wiz is expanding into identity security and rumored to be preparing for an IPO. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include CrowdStrike, Zscaler, and Palo Alto Networks.Humane– Despite a rocky product launch, the company remains a high profile AI hardware bet. With a $1B valuation, Humane is exploring strategic options amid rumored acquisition interest. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include Apple, Meta, and Garmin.Arctic Wolf– Demand for MDR is surging and the company is expanding into threat intel and cloud security as IPO rumors continue. Publicly-traded companies operating in the same space include CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, and Palo Alto Networks.IPOs to watch:Innio– The company announced that it has publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its common shares. The timing of the offering, number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Innio has applied to list its common shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "INIO." Innio designs, manufactures and services power systems under its Jenbacher and Waukesha brands. The company delivers power for applications including data centers, microgrids, grid stabilization, industrial energy and gas compression.Inspire Brands– The company announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. Inspire Brands expects to use the net proceeds of the proposed offering to repay outstanding indebtedness under its existing term loan facility and pay offering fees and expenses.Csquare– The data center company filed confidentially for a U.S. initial public offering, a signal that more data center companies are lining up to sell shares for the first time over the coming year, Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschultz. The provider of colocation and data center services announced on Friday that it had submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Brookfield Infrastructure Partners-backed company joins a rush of new listings as the companies building out the backbone to support AI's energy needs seek to raise funds, the author notes.Tarsier Pharma Ltd.– The company filed for an initial public offering of its ordinary shares and applied to list its ordinary shares on the NYSE American under the symbol "TARX." The prospectus stated, "Tarsier Pharma is developing TRS01 and TRS02, novel product candidates based on dazdotuftide, a new molecule with a new mechanism of action for uveitis and uveitic glaucoma. We are attempting to address a significant, underserved market opportunity and have engaged closely with the FDA on our clinical development strategy, including a Special Protocol Assessment agreement for our planned pivotal trial... Although we are still early in this journey, I believe we have the technology, the team, the discipline, and the persistence required to build an enduring company.""Private Markets" is The Fly's recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.

Catch up on the top artificial intelligence news and commentary by Wall Street analysts on publicly traded companies in the space with this daily recap compiled by The Fly.SEPTEMBER LISTING:OpenAI is preparing to file for a public listing as early as this week, with the AI lab aiming for a blockbuster initial public offering as soon as September, Financial Times' George Hammond. The company has been laying the groundwork for an offering expected to value it at north of $1T, working with bankers at Morgan Stanleyand Goldman Sachsand lawyers at Cooley over the past few months, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. The group could file a draft IPO prospectus as early as Friday, starting the timer on a public listing for the autumn, FT added. That timing could shift depending on the market and on the performance of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is expected to go public next month in the biggest listing of all time, the author notes.DEALMAKING IN AI INDUSTRY:Nvidiahas committed $90B to dealmaking in the AI industry over the past 16 months, Ryan McMorrow and Michael Acton of The Financial Times. The company committed $47B to investments in partnerships in the year to January 25 and designated an additional $43B in the four months since.BETS ON OPENAI:SoftBank Groupinvested billions in OpenAI last year, leading to some executives asking Masayoshi Son what would happen if ChatGPT ever failed, Min-Jeong Lee and Mayumi Negishi of Bloomberg. On multiple occasions, Son has dismissed such questions, often so bluntly that his lieutenants have stopped asking, people familiar with the conversations told Bloomberg. Recent breakthroughs by rival Anthropic, however, has raised doubts about OpenAI, with some SoftBank officials anxious over the ballooning commitment to the U.S. company.AI-NATIVE MODERNIZATION ON AZURE:Grid Dynamicsannounced an AI-native modernization service offering on Microsoft Azure, powered by its GAIN Platform for SDLC. The offering targets large enterprise clients running mission-critical, high-transaction-volume legacy environments. By tackling their biggest roadblocks-technical debt and legacy licensing costs-it addresses a market segment known for larger contracts and stronger margins. "The introduction of our GAIN Platform for SDLC on Microsoft Azure is a pivotal moment for enterprises looking to shed technical debt and achieve cloud-native agility. By leveraging our proven AI modernization frameworks with Azure's infrastructure, we are enabling mission-critical systems to not just migrate, but to fundamentally transform and modernize, unlocking massive innovation potential while driving down legacy costs," said Rahul Bindlish, SVP Global Partnerships and Marketing at Grid Dynamics.WHATSAPP ACCESS:Metahas offered EU regulators a proposal to allow rival AI chatbots, including OpenAI systems, free access to WhatsApp in Europe up to a usage threshold, after which Meta would begin charging fees, in an effort to address antitrust scrutiny from the European Commission over its messaging platform access policies, Reuters' Foo Yun Chee.

OpenAI is preparing to file for a public listing as early as this week, with the AI lab aiming for a blockbuster initial public offering as soon as September, Financial Times' George Hammond reports. The company has been laying the groundwork for an offering expected to value it at north of $1T, working with bankers at Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) and lawyers at Cooley over the past few months, according to people familiar with the matter. The group could file a draft IPO prospectus as early as Friday, starting the timer on a public listing for the autumn, they added. That timing could shift depending on the market and on the performance of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is expected to go public next month in the biggest listing of all time, the author notes.