OpenAI Seeks to Raise $100B at $830B Valuation
OpenAI is said to be seeking to raise as much as $100B at an $830B valuation. Meanwhile, Databricks raised $4B at a $134B valuation and announced it crossed a $4.8B revenue run-rate.This week's private company news:Microsoft-backed OpenAI is seeking to raise as much as $100B as it tries to pay for ambitious growth plans in a market that has ebbed recently on the AI boom, the Wall Street Journal's Kate Clark and Berber Jin. The latest funding round for the ChatGPT maker, which is in the early stages, could value it at as high as $830B if it raises the full amount it is aiming for, the authors say, citing people familiar with the matter. The AI company is seeking to complete the round by the end of Q1 at the earliest, the authors say, noting that the terms of the deal could still change and it is unclear whether there will be sufficient shareholder demand to reach the target. OpenAI is anticipated to recruit sovereign wealth funds to participate in the funding, given the scale, the authors say, citing people familiar with the matter.SpaceX is moving forward with an insider share sale that values Elon Musk's rocket and satellite maker at about $800B, setting up what could be the largest initial public offering of all time, Bloomberg's Loren Grush and Edward Ludlow. In a company message seen by Bloomberg on Friday, SpaceX said it's preparing for a possible public offering in 2026 that would be aimed at funding an "insane flight rate" for its developmental Starship rocket, artificial intelligence data centers in space and a base on the moon. The per-share price of $421 in its latest secondary offering, laid out by Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen in the memo to shareholders, is nearly double the $212 a share set in July at a $400B valuation, the authors note.Vibe coding startup Lovable's latest funding round values the company at $6.6B and includes U.S. VC firm Accel, sources with knowledge of the deal told CNBC, Kai Nicol-Schwarz. That figure is more than triple the $1.8B valuation the Swedish AI company achieved after closing its most recent funding round in July. It's Lovable's third in 2025 and follows a breakneck year of growth that's seen it become one of Europe's most valuable startups, the author notes.Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:Databricks– The company announced it is raising a greater than $4B Series L investment, valuing it at $134B. Additionally, Databricks said it crossed a $4.8B revenue run-rate during its Q3, growing greater than 55% year-over-year, including greater than $1B revenue run-rate from its Data Warehousing business and greater than $1B revenue run-rate from its AI products - all while delivering positive free cash flow over the last 12 months. Publicly traded companies in the space include Snowflake, Palantir, and MongoDB.MoEngage– The customer engagement platform raised $280M in a Series F round led by new investors ChrysCapital and Dragon Funds, alongside Schroders Capital, with continued participation from current investors TR Capital and B Capital. Publicly traded companies in the space include Braze, Adobe, and SAP.Tebra– The all-in-one EHR+ platform working with private healthcare providers said it secured $250M in new equity and debt financing to accelerate its R&D in AI and automation. Publicly traded companies in the space include Oracle Health, Veradigm, and NextGen Healthcare.HawkEye– The signals intelligence data and analytics company completed its acquisition of Innovative Signal Analysis, supported by equity and debt financings totaling $150M. This Series E preferred equity financing round was co-led by existing investor NightDragon and Center15 Capital, with additional secured and mezzanine debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, Pinegrove Venture Partners, and Hercules Capital. Publicly traded companies in the space include Iridium, Trimble, and Spire Global.Nirvana Insurance– The premier AI-native commercial insurer announced it has secured a preemptive $100M of its Series D led by Valor Equity Partners, with previous lead investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst also doubling down significantly. Publicly traded companies in the space include Progressive, Allstate, and Travelers.Unicorns to watch this week:ezCater– The company operating in the corporate catering and food delivery space has an estimated valuation of over $1B. This holiday season the company is expected to experience strong demand, highlighted by its enterprise partnerships. Publicly traded companies in the space include DoorDash, Uber, and GrubHub.Loft Orbital– The satellite infrastructure company valued at over $1B is deploying satellites rapidly for commercial and government clients. Publicly traded companies in the space include Iridium, Trimble, and Spire Global.Kalshi– The prediction-market startup has recently raised $185M in a funding round led by Paradigm, valuing the company at about $2B, amid regulatory approval momentum and investor interest in alternative trading. Publicly traded companies in the space include CME Group, IntercontinentalExchange, and Cboe Global.Modal– The AI cloud computing platform is valued at approximately $1.1B after raising $87M Series B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Amazon, Alphabet, and.Fireworks AI – With an estimated valuation of $4B, the AI app builder's customer base grew 10 times in 2024. Publicly traded companies in the space include Amazon, Snowflake, and Palantir.IPOs to watch:Grayscale Investments– The company filed a prospectus for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GRAY." Grayscale says it is the largest digital asset-focused investment platform in the world, with $35B in assets under management as of September 30.Klook Technology– The company, which identifies itself as "the largest pan-regional experiences platform in Asia-Pacific" by gross transaction volume in 2024, announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of American Depositary Shares representing its ordinary shares.Speed Group– The company filed a prospectus for 2.5M share initial public offering. It expects the IPO price to be in the range of $4.00 to $5.00 per. The company's operating subsidiary, Speed Logistics, is an e-commerce logistics provider providing end-to-end logistics solution in Hong Kong, Europe and North America. The services include warehousing, customs clearance, air transportation, and final delivery from the European airports.Medline– The provider of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions filed a prospectus for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.Lendbuzz– The company is offering an undetermined number of shares of its common stock and the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering additional shares of common stock, according to an initial public offering prospectus filed with the SEC."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.
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- AI Growth Momentum: Microsoft is experiencing significant growth in the AI sector, particularly with surging demand for Azure services, which is driving overall revenue and margin improvements, showcasing its leadership in technological innovation.
- Infrastructure Investment Pressure: Despite strong revenue growth, the company's massive spending on AI infrastructure is pressuring free cash flow, sparking widespread investor debate regarding the company's financial health, which could impact future investment decisions.
- Long-term Revenue Potential: Should Microsoft successfully convert its current capital expenditure cycle into sustainable revenue and long-term cash generation, the recent stock price pullback could be viewed as a major investment opportunity, attracting more investor interest.
- Market Reaction Analysis: Market prices as of May 6, 2026, indicate that despite cash flow challenges, Microsoft's stock still reflects investor confidence in its future growth potential, suggesting recognition of its strategic direction.
- Future Revenue Visibility: Microsoft's commercial remaining performance obligations surged 110% year-over-year to $625 billion, indicating strong revenue visibility for the next 2.5 years, enhancing its competitive position in the market.
- Infrastructure Investment: In Q2 of fiscal 2026, approximately two-thirds of Microsoft's $37.5 billion capital expenditures were allocated to short-lived assets like GPUs and CPUs, while the remaining funds were directed towards long-lasting infrastructure, ensuring long-term revenue generation.
- Renewable Energy Commitment: Microsoft has contracted 40 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity across 26 countries, aiming to meet 100% of its electricity needs by 2025, highlighted by a $16 billion, 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to power its AI data centers.
- AI Business Model Transformation: Microsoft is shifting from selling software licenses per employee to charging for AI agents, surpassing 15 million paid Copilot seats and generating over $5.4 billion in annual recurring revenue, positioning itself at the center of growing enterprise software spending.
- Significant Revenue Growth: AMD's Q1 revenue surged 38% year-over-year to $10.25 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations of $9.89 billion, indicating strong demand in the AI infrastructure market, particularly for data center GPUs and server CPUs.
- Surge in Data Center Demand: Demand for AMD's Epyc server CPUs and Instinct GPUs in data centers is robust, with Meta set to become a 'lead customer' for its sixth-generation Epyc CPUs, planning to deploy up to 6GW of Instinct GPUs, further solidifying AMD's position in the AI sector.
- Market Share Increase: AMD's share in the server CPU market rose from 27% to 36% year-over-year, with expectations for the market to grow at over 35% annually in the next three to five years, paving the way for stronger revenue growth for the company.
- Optimistic Outlook: AMD anticipates a 46% year-over-year revenue increase in Q2 to $11.2 billion, with non-GAAP gross margin expected to rise to 56%, indicating substantial long-term growth potential in the AI market, as analysts project a 234% year-over-year increase in earnings per share.
- Investigation Launched: The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has initiated a Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into Microsoft's business software ecosystem, aiming to assess whether Microsoft is using its market position to limit customer choice and impact competition.
- Customer Choice Limitations: The CMA noted that UK customers may struggle to effectively combine Microsoft software with that of other providers, thereby restricting their access to the best products at competitive prices, which could undermine market fairness.
- Bundling and Interoperability: The probe will focus on whether product bundling, interoperability limitations, and default settings hinder customer switching, thereby weakening the competitive pressures Microsoft faces, particularly from AI competitors' integration capabilities.
- Completion Timeline: The CMA aims to complete the investigation within nine months and will decide by February 2027 whether to designate Microsoft with SMS, engaging with customers, rivals, and tech challengers to gather evidence during this period.
- Investigation Launch: The UK government officially initiated an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's dominance in the business software sector on Thursday, aiming to assess whether the company holds a 'strategic market status' that could lead to targeted regulatory actions.
- Market Impact Assessment: This investigation will focus on Microsoft's leading position in the business software market, and if confirmed, the findings could significantly impact its future business operations and market strategies.
- Regulatory Environment Shift: This move by the UK reflects a growing emphasis on fair competition in the market, as global scrutiny of tech giants increases, potentially prompting similar actions from other countries that could further affect Microsoft's global operations.
- Strategic Response Necessity: Microsoft must proactively address this investigation, potentially needing to adjust its market strategies to avoid legal repercussions and market share losses, thereby ensuring its continued leadership in the competitive business software market.
- Acquisition Potential Assessment: Microsoft is evaluating potential acquisitions of several artificial intelligence startups, aiming to enhance its product portfolio through technology integration, thereby improving market competitiveness and accelerating innovation.
- Strategic Investment Focus: This acquisition evaluation reflects Microsoft's emphasis on the AI sector, particularly in the context of intensifying global tech competition, intending to drive long-term growth through technological consolidation.
- Market Reaction Expectations: Analysts generally believe that a successful acquisition could further solidify Microsoft's leadership position in the AI market, potentially having a positive impact on its stock price and attracting more investor interest.
- Technology Integration Opportunities: By acquiring startups, Microsoft can not only gain access to advanced AI technologies but also attract top talent, enhancing its R&D capabilities to maintain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving tech industry.











