After a prolonged slowdown, the IPO market is showing clearer signs of life. As our 2026 IPO outlook forecast details, improving public-market conditions, stabilizing interest rates and renewed investor appetite for growth are setting the stage for a wider reopening of the listing window.

Against that backdrop, a growing cohort of late-stage private companies now looks increasingly prepared to make the leap. Using °ä°ůłÜ˛Ôł¦łó˛ú˛ą˛ő±đ’s — which evaluate factors including funding history, growth signals, investor mix and market timing — we’ve curated a list of 15 companies across AI, enterprise software, fintech, space, defense, healthcare and consumer tech that could realistically go public in 2026, should market momentum continue to build.

AI and enterprise tech

: When the window is open, you make your move. That’s something IPO market timers take to heart. But while well-funded private companies are aware of this cyclicality, actually prepping and orchestrating a public debut takes the kind of prep that doesn’t always align with the perfect window. That said, AI infrastructure unicorn Crusoe Energy Systems is certainly scaling in a direction that points to a public exit, a likelihood that Crunchbase predictions affirm with a “probable” rating on a listing for the Denver-based company. Crusoe closed on a in October at a valuation of more than $10 billion. With generative AI platforms currently expanding and investing at an unprecedented rate, the timing is certainly right for the kind of growth metrics IPO investors appreciate.

— Joanna Glasner

: Databricks has been on our list since the end of 2021, when it missed the IPO window. °ä°ůłÜ˛Ôł¦łó˛ú˛ą˛ő±đ’s predictive tools label it a “very likely” IPO candidate and that makes sense. The 12-year-old, San Francisco-based company is well placed to go public. As of Q3, it announced it is growing more than 55% year over year, with an over $4.8 billion revenue run rate as of its . Of that revenue, $1 billion was from its AI products. Net retention was above 140% and the company has been free cash flow positive for more than 12 months. Its valuation in recent months has soared. It was valued at $100 billion in September and in December at $134 billion in a round led by and public market investors and .

: Competition among model developers is heating up. AI lab has engaged to begin to explore an IPO, according to the . While 2026 might be too early for Anthropic to go public, another, less-known model developer could make a public-market debut this year. Cohere, co-headquartered in Toronto and San Francisco, focuses on supporting sovereign and secure AI for enterprise and governments. Its customers hail from across North America, APAC and EMEA, and include , and . , its founder and CEO, spoke at a event in London expressing an interest in a public listing in the near future for the 6-year-old company, which was recently valued at $7 billion with . Crunchbase predicts it is a “probable” IPO candidate.

: Design platform Canva is another strong contender to go public in 2026. The 13-year-old Sydney, Australia-based company was valued at $42 billion in its most recent funding — a share sale for employees led by public market investor . As of its August 2025 funding, Canva’s . The company, which Crunchbase bills a “probable” IPO candidate, claimed 240 million monthly users designing with its tools at that time. And adding further validation of Canva’s public-market readiness, competitor went public in July 2024 at a valuation of $16.1 billion. (Although, Figma’s stock is slightly up as of mid-December but remains well below its first-day massive .) As of Q3, Figma, by comparison, has reached .

— Gené Teare

: Before the AI boom, quantum computing was the hot, capital-intensive tech that got VCs and technologists excited. While AI has eclipsed investor interest in quantum, the latter continues to draw big checks from investors, who see enormous potential for the technology to facilitate breakthroughs in areas ranging from drug discovery to cybersecurity and defense. At least one quantum startup is actively mulling an IPO. That’s Quantinuum, which Crunchbase labels a “probable” IPO candidate. That prediction squares with other reporting, including a March 2025 that cited a source with direct knowledge of the matter saying parent company is aiming for a 2026 or 2027 listing. The Broomfield, Colorado-based startup, formed in 2021 via the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, has raised $925 million from venture investors to date, including a $600 million -backed Series B in August at a $10 billion pre-money valuation.

— Marlize van RomburghĚý

Space and defense tech

: Space tech has been a strong area for venture investment of late, and with the prospect of a IPO in 2026, it’s an increasingly buzzy sector for public markets as well. Among recently funded startups in the sector, Torrance, California-based K2 Space is a standout on several fronts. For one, it’s a fundraising machine, securing more than $400 million across three rounds since 2024. That culminated in a $250 Series C led by last month at a $3 billion valuation. The company, founded in 2022, develops large, high-power satellite platforms and has secured $500 million in signed contracts across commercial and U.S. government customers. Crunchbase predicts it’s “probable” that the startup will IPO.

— Joanna Glasner

: This one is kind of a gimme. Late last year, -led SpaceX was reported to be eyeing an IPO that would be the largest VC-backed listing of all time —Ěýby about 10x — at a target valuation of $1.5 trillion. The company is already one of the most valuable private businesses in the world. Its reported IPO ambitions make a lot of sense, given the capital-intensive nature of space exploration, aforementioned investor appetite for space tech, and its revenue: an $15 billion in 2025, much of it from its fast-growing StarLink satellite internet business. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has raised nearly $12 billion in its lifetime, according to Crunchbase, which pegs a “very likely” IPO probability on the Hawthorne, California-based company. Investors include , , , and , among others.

: Venture investment into defense tech hit an all-time high last year, and no company received more money than Anduril. Of the more than $7.7 billion that flowed to defense-related startups in 2025, roughly a third went to Anduril in its $2.5 billion Series G at a $30.5 billion valuation. The startup, founded in 2017 by founder , is well-connected in the administration and has been the beneficiary of the U.S. military’s efforts to modernize its defense and war technologies, including a contract with the to supply VR/AR headsets to the . The company has raised $6.3 billion to date from investors including , the , and . The Costa Mesa, California-based company is deemed a “very likely” IPO candidate.

— Marlize van RomburghĚý

Health and consumer tech

: Innovaccer, provider of AI-enabled data and intelligence platform for healthcare providers, hits a lot of the checklist items we see in pre-IPO startups. It’s been around for a while (founded in 2014), raised considerable capital, secured a big early this year, and has high-profile strategic backers including . With 1,200 employees across five global offices, San Francisco-based Innovaccer is also a fairly large operation at this point, and certainly looks scaled enough for a public market debut, all factors that contribute to its “probable” IPO prediction from Crunchbase.

— Joanna Glasner

: Hardware-maker Nothing is taking a more unconventional path to a potential IPO. The London-based startup is working to be “IPO-ready” in three years, CEO and co-founder last month. In the meantime the company is giving fans of its smartphones and other gadgets a chance to invest at a via platforms like and . “The timing will depend on market conditions and what makes sense for the business at that point in time,” Pei told the publication. Crunchbase puts a “probable” prediction on an IPO for Nothing, which has reportedly posted fast growth, particularly in markets like India, the U.K. and Japan. The company has said it hit more than $1 billion in lifetime sales last year and has sold more than 7 million devices. Along with its crowdfunding campaigns, Nothing has raised more than $446 million from venture investors including and , .

— Marlize van RomburghĚý

Cybersecurity

: Cybersecurity has long been one of the most robust and predictable areas for venture investment. One of the faster-growing startups in the sphere is Huntress, which offers cybersecurity products for small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the resources for a fully staffed 24/7 security team. Crunchbase pins a “probable” IPO prediction on the company, and CEO has also indicated a Huntress listing is a strong possibility in coming years. on the floor of the in late October, he said that the Columbia, Maryland-based company has posted 60% year-over-year growth and is on track to hit $185 million to $190 million in revenue this year. Demand for its offerings has only increased as generative AI has aided scammers and hackers to craft more sophisticated phishing and other cyber attacks, he said. The company has raised nearly $310 million from investors to date, , including a June 2024 Series D led by , and .

: Crunchbase says it’s “probable” that crypto wallet startup Ledger will IPO. That’s down from a “very likely” prediction last year, but other signs continue to point to the likelihood of an offering for the Paris-based startup, which provides a hardware wallet to secure crypto private keys. That means Ledger, founded in 2014, is well-positioned at the intersection of two currently hot industries: cybersecurity and blockchain. It has raised some $577 million from venture investors including and , per . CEO in mid-2025 that Ledger is actively thinking about a U.S. stock market debut, likely within the next three years. He reiterated that an IPO is actively under consideration in an interview with last year, adding that the company’s revenue had hit triple-digit millions in 2025 amid soaring demand for secure crypto storage devices spurred by rising hacks. Ledger secures about $100 billion worth of bitcoin for its customers, he said. Gauthier has previously said an estimated 20% of the world’s crypto assets are protected by his company’s wallets.

— Marlize van RomburghĚý

Fintech

: With a “very likely” IPO prediction from Crunchbase, 2026 could be the year that Plaid, a fintech company that connects bank accounts to financial applications, finally decides to go public. In April, the company sold about $575 million worth of common stock at a $6.1 billion post-money valuation. At the time, Plaid told that it would not go public in 2025, but confirmed that an IPO was a milestone the company continued “to track towards.” The startup has not revealed specifics around revenue, noting only that 2025 was a record-setting year in which revenue grew over 25%. Plaid has raised about $1.3 billion from investors such as , , , and .

: Revolut, a digital bank based in London, is a “very likely” candidate for an initial public offering, per Crunchbase predictions. In November, it completed a secondary share sale, boosting its valuation to $75 billion. That was a 67% jump compared to the $45 billion that Revolut was valued at in August 2024 when it announced to provide liquidity to employees. Investors include , , , , ’s venture capital arm , and . Revolut has seen impressive growth since its 2015 inception. In 2025, it achieved $1 billion in annualized revenue and surpassed a 65 million customer base across 100 countries. The company likely won’t IPO until it secures its full U.K. banking license, for which it is still .

: Monzo, another U.K.-based banking platform, is also said to be eyeing an IPO in 2026 and Crunchbase pegs a “very likely” prediction for an offering too. Timing of the IPO is so sensitive for the company now that its CEO was pushed out of the head role due to his reported attempts at a listing earlier than some directors apparently wanted. He also reportedly indicated he might leave soon after. In June, Monzo revenue of more than $1.35 billion and “a sharp rise” in annual profit. It also increased its customer base by 25% to 12.2 million in its last fiscal year. The company was valued at $5.9 billion in October 2024 after selling shares to a group of existing investors. Backers include , , , and .

— Mary Ann Azevedo

An IPO prediction is never a promise. But as market conditions shift and investor appetite broadens, these companies are flashing more of the signals that tend to precede a public offering.

Methodology

°ä°ůłÜ˛Ôł¦łó˛ú˛ą˛ő±đ’s utilize Crunchbase data — including funding and valuation, and milestones such as financial growth, key leadership hires, market share expansion and headcount growth — to forecast the likelihood of a private company launching an IPO, providing a probability score and its supporting evidence. Read more about °ä°ůłÜ˛Ôł¦łó˛ú˛ą˛ő±đ’s Predictions & Insights and its methodology for IPO predictions .

Related reading:

• Crunchbase Predicts: IPOs Picked Up In 2025 And The Outlook For 2026 Is Even More OptimisticĚý
• Crunchbase Predicts: Why Top VCs Expect More Venture Dollars, Bigger Rounds And Fewer Winners In 2026
• Crunchbase Predicts: Why The Race For Talent And Tech Could Accelerate Startup M&A In 2026
• 6 Charts That Show The Big AI Funding Trends Of 2025
• The IPO Market Is Opening Up. These 14 Companies Could Be Next.

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A SpaceX IPO could take place as early as mid- to late-2026, or possibly in 2027, Bloomberg reported.

Until October, Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX was the world’s most valuable private, venture-backed company. It was valued at $400 billion after .

took over the top spot when it conducted its own secondary share sale at a valuation of $500 billion.

Founded in 2002, SpaceX has raised nearly $12 billion in its lifetime, according to . Investors include , , , and , among others.

Record IPOs

A stock-market listing at its reported target valuation would dwarf the initial valuations of any other venture-backed startups on record. The largest to date remains ’s IPO in 2012 that valued the social media company (now named Meta) at $104 billion.

More mega IPOs could be on tap

Notably, SpaceX’s potential IPO, while the largest, is not the only massive listing that may be in the works.

The largest two generative AI startups, OpenAI and , are also reportedly mulling public listings that would value them in the hundreds of millions of dollars, or more. OpenAI is reportedly eyeing an initial public valuation of up to $1 trillion if it goes public as soon as next year, while Anthropic is currently said to be pursuing fresh funding at a private valuation of more than $300 billion. So it would presumably seek an even higher market cap in a public offering, although it’s yet unclear how high.

Related Crunchbase queries:

Related reading:

• The Crunchbase ĚÇĐÄĘÓƵ
• Yes, I’m Biased. But Still, Leading Unicorns Like Anthropic Should Be Prepping For IPOs

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While late-stage startup investment in Europe remains relatively muted, early-stage funding has quietly become Europe’s engine of resilience — helping sustain overall funding levels even as global capital continues to concentrate around massive AI rounds in the U.S., Crunchbase data shows.

All told, European startups pulled in $13.1 billion across more than 1,000 deals last quarter, flat quarter over quarter but up 22% year over year, per Crunchbase data. Early-stage investment accounted for roughly 60% of that total, buoyed by strong activity in deep tech, biotech and AI applications.

This contrasts with North America, which has seen a surge of megarounds of $500 million or more, largely into AI-related companies, over the past four quarters. North American companies raised 68% of global funding in Q3, up 10 percentage points from a year ago, with two-thirds invested in later-stage financings.

Table of contents

• Klarna debuts and strong M&A
• AI stepped up
• Late stage
• Early stage up
• Seed
• Robust early stage
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Klarna debuts and strong M&A

Sweden-based Klarna went public on the in Q3 at a value of $15.1 billion, marking the completion of one of the most-anticipated European debuts in recent years. Still, while Klarna’s listing price was well above its most recent private valuation at $6.7 billion in 2022, it was still far below its 2021 valuation of $45.5 billion.

Five European companies were also acquired for close to or more than a billion dollars each last quarter, including Sweden-based enterprise knowledge platform , which was purchased by , and Germany-based conversational AI platform , acquired by . Other billion-dollar startup exits out of Europe last quarter were in healthcare — and — and , in asset management.

AI stepped up

Close to 40% of European funding was invested in AI-related startups last quarter, totaling $5.2 billion, per Crunchbase data. That was up from $2 billion in Q3 2024.

The large fundraisers in the space were Paris-based frontier model company , which raised $2 billion, and London-based , a 1-year-old data center and cloud provider that raised $1.1 billion. (Within a week in early October, Nscale raised another $433 million from , and , among others.)

Other large rounds in AI last quarter were raised by Sweden-based vibe coding startup , London-based accounts payable company , and Switzerland drone and robotics operations platform .

Late stage

Around $5.4 billion was invested last quarter across 75 deals into Europe startups at growth stage, per Crunchbase data. That represents around 9% of global late-stage venture funding, the smallest proportion compared to other funding stages. The

Other late-stage fundings went to London-based smartphone and device maker , Netherlands-based website design , and Italy-based embedded device security platform .

Early stage up

Early-stage funding in Q3 was up year over year by 31%, with $6.1 billion invested across more than 257 funding rounds. European funding represented 20% of global early-stage funding.

Early-stage rounds also went to Finland-based , Belgium-based , and U.K.-based material science company .

Seed

European seed funding totaled $1.7 billion in Q3 across 745 seed rounds, representing 18% of global seed funding.

Large seed rounds were raised in energy, AI, biotech, fintech, autonomous driving and robotics, among other sectors.

Robust early stage

Early-stage funding to European startups picked up in Q3 with large rounds in deeptech, biotech and AI applications across many European cities.

Europe’s early-stage funding represents around 20% of global venture funding, while funding lags at the later stages, coming in at 9% of global funding.

So while Europe’s startups haven’t produced the splashy growth figures of their North American counterparts, the region has now delivered several sequential quarters of steady funding, not to mention resilient early-stage investment and strong exits in Q3. In fact, four of the nine companies acquired globally for more than $1 billion last quarter hail from Europe. As Europe and the U.S. come closer together, with many European founders launching in the U.S. market earlier, the question is: Will Europe continue to create those standout $10 billion-plus companies as it did most recently with Klarna?

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from Crunchbase, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Oct. 6, 2025.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. Crunchbase also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. Crunchbase includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the “Series [Letter]” naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a “venture” round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

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The Cedar Park, Texas-based company, which offers launch, land and in-space services for national security and commercial customers, raised $868 million in the offering. It priced sharesĚý late Wednesday at $45 each, above the projected range. The company is trading on under the ticker symbol FLY.

The IPO follows a string of well-received venture-backed debuts, including last week’s blockbuster market entry by design software provider , which saw shares triple in first-day trading.

For Firefly, meanwhile, investors aren’t flocking to buy for profitability. The 11-year-old company posted a net loss of $231 million in 2024 and $60 million in the first quarter of this year, per its IPO prospectus.

However, it is seeing growing revenue. In Q1 2025, revenue totaled $55.9 million, up from just $8.3 million in the same period a year earlier. That said, it should be noted that revenue recognition can be complex for Firefly’s sector, which is reliant on multiyear contracts that may be announced some time before they are paid out.

Firefly’s IPO comes amid a relatively robust period for investment in space tech startups, with multiple rounds above $100 million closing this year. Investors are particularly bullish about opportunities at the intersection of space tech and AI.

For its part, Firefly raised close to $700 million in equity funding over the years. Its largest stakeholder is , with 47% of pre-IPO shares, per Firefly’s prospectus.

In addition to rising share prices, the current IPO market is characterized by high valuations being minted. While Figma shares have fallen some in recent days, for instance, it’s still valued at over $40 billion.

Another mega-debut came from AI infrastructure provider , with a recent market cap around $57 billion. Shares of the New Jersey company have also more than doubled since its April IPO. The strongest performer among big IPOs, meanwhile, is , up more than 4x since its June market entry.

Related Crunchbase query:

Related reading:

• Figma More Than Triples In First-Day Trading
• Spacetech Startup Funding Charts A New Course

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

This week was a productive period for fintech funding, with two companies in the space — and — pulling in the largest rounds. In addition, we also saw sizable financings for companies in a range of other industries, including micromobility, drug discovery and green steel.

1. , $820M, fintech:Ěý iCapital, a fintech platform for alternative investments and investors, raised more than $820 million in a funding round that took its valuation to over $7.5 billion. and accounts advised by co-led the financing for the New York-based company.

2. , $250M, fintech: Bilt Rewards, a rewards program for home renters to use with local merchants, raised $250 million in a venture round led by and . The financing sets a $10.75 billion valuation for the New York-based company.

3. , $200M, micromobility: Also, a micromobility startup spun out of , raised a reported $200 million in a new financing led by at a $1 billion valuation. The Palo Alto, California-based company is developing small EVs, with an initial product launch anticipated next year.

3. , $187M, spacetech and drug discovery: El Segundo, California-based Varda, a self-described “microgravity-enabled life sciences company,” raised $187 million in a Series C led by and . The company bases its research on the finding that materials including active pharmaceutical ingredients crystallize differently in space, enabling novel drug formulations.

4. , $150M, equipment maintenance: MaintainX, which operates an equipment maintenance and asset management platform, raised $150 million in a Series D backed by a long list of investors including and . The financing boosted the San Francisco-based startup’s valuation to $2.5 billion.

5. , $100M, AI: Harmonic, a developer of AI mathematical reasoning models, a $100 million Series B financing led by . The round brings total funding to date for the 2-year-old, Palo Alto, California-based company to $175 million, per .

6. , $56M, neurostimulation: Neuros Medical, developer of an electrical nerve stimulation system used to treat chronic post-amputation pain, raised $56 million in a Series D round. led the financing for the Aliso Viejo, California-based company.

7. , $55M, vehicle repair: Los Gatos, California-based ServiceUp, developer of a platform for fleet operators to manage repairs and maintenance, raised $55 million in a Series B round led by .

8. , $54.5M, biopharma: Renasant Bio launched with $54.5 million in seed funding to develop treatments for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. led the financing for the Berkeley, California-based startup.

9. (tied) , $51M, green steel: Green steel maker Boston Metal that it raised $51 million in a convertible note investment from existing investors including , , and . The funds will be used in part for a metals plant in Brazil, slated to come online next year.

9.(tied) , $51M, enterprise software: Redwood City, California-based Spacelift, developer of an infrastructure orchestration platform for enterprises, raised $51 million in Series C funding led by with participation from and .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of July 4-11. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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The round also included investment from the likes of , and .

The Los Angeles-based startup is helping streamline the approach to satellites with the ability to mass produce spacecraft buses — the main body and structural component of satellites — to help meet increasing demand from customers like the .

“Apex’s approach to building spacecraft is key to America realizing its commercial and national security strategies in space,” said founder and CEO . “This successful raise accelerates our production, allowing Apex to expand its inventory ahead of demand to better enable the missions of our innovative customers, including defense primes, the U.S. government and some of the most exciting companies in the country.”

Space cash

Defense tech has seen increasing attention from investors, as more and more money has poured into the sector.

However, so far space tech investment has been slow. Only $1.7 billion was invested in VC-backed startups in Q1, per Crunchbase . Last year saw a total of $12.5 billion invested in space tech for the whole year.

However, the sector has seen some big rounds this year, including reusable rocket startup locking up a $260 million Series C and raising a $250 million Series D.

Related Crunchbase Pro list:

Related reading:

• Investors Once Again Star Gazing — Space Tech Funding Jumps
• Astranis Aims For The Stars With New $200M Round
• Space Tech Startup Lands $95M For Satellite Buses
• Stoke Space Looks To Blast Off With $260M Series C
• Defense Startup Epirus Secures $250M For Anti-Drone Tech

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out the biggest funding rounds of last week here.

Thus far 2025 has come roaring in as far as large rounds go. Last week more than a dozen companies raised $100 million or more. This week there are fewer, but not by many, as companies needed to raise at least $100 million to make this list.

1. , $320M, biotech: Medical data research company Truveta landed a massive $320 million investment from , and 17 U.S. health systems as it continues to build the world’s largest genetic database. The deal values privately held Truveta at more than $1 billion. Truveta aggregates medical records data from its partner institutions to link treatments with outcomes and other health aspects. Its platform is updated daily. Founded in 2020, the company has raised $515 million, .

2. , $260M, space: Reusable rocket startup Stoke Space locked up a $260 million Series C as the space tech sector looks to build off a successful 2024 in terms of fundraising. The Kent, Washington-based company is developing fully reusable rockets that make low-cost access to and from space possible. It intends to use the new funding to complete construction of itsĚý Nova launch vehicle at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The new round involves new and existing investors including , , and the , among others. Founded in 2019, Stoke has raised more than $480 million, per the company. After a slow-ish 2023, last year saw a bit of a bounce-back for the space tech industry in venture funding. In 2024, VC-backed space tech startups raised $8.3 billion, per Crunchbase . That number is a 17% jump from the $7.1 billion raised in 2023, but short of the $9.2 billion invested in 2022.

3. , $200M, genetics: Colossal Biosciences, a de-extinction startup looking at ways to bring back the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth, raised a $200 million Series C at a $10.2 billion valuation. The new cash infusion came from , a holding company jointly led by and . The Dallas-based startup, which launched in 2021, plans to use the money to continue to advance its genetic engineering technologies, as well as grow its software and hardware solutions for applications involved with de-extinction, conservation and human health care. The company said bringing back extinct animals could allow for a better understanding of evolutionary change in other species, and that genetic engineering applications also will help enhance food production and reduce environmental impact. It was January 2023 when Colossal Biosciences raised a $150 million Series B to further its de-extinction platform. The round was led by Tull’s . Since launching in September 2021, Colossal has raised $435 million, per the company.

4. , $175M, biotech: Epigenetic programming startup Tune Therapeutics raised a huge $175 million round led by ,, and . The funding is expected to advance development of the company’s existing pipeline, which is currently anchored by its clinical-stage epigenetic silencing drug for chronic Hepatitis B. The cash also will be used toĚý support the development of additional gene, cell and regenerative therapy programs. Founded in 2020, the company has raised $215 million, .

5. , $170M, space: Space infrastructure startup Loft Orbital raised a $170 million funding round led by and . The San Francisco-based company builds satellites to which customers can attach components like sensors and telescopes. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $326 million, .

6. , $165M, biotech: Raleigh, North Carolina-based Caidya, a mid-sized clinical research organization, locked up aĚý strategic growth investment of $165 million from funds managed by , a U.S.-based healthcare investment firm. Caidya offers biopharma companies an array of clinical trial services from regulatory strategy and submissions through post-approval surveillance. Founded in 2021, this is the first round raised with a disclosed amount, .

7. , $150M, crypto: San Francisco-based Phantom Technologies, a crypto wallet startup, raised a $150 million round led by and , valuing the startup at $3 billion. Founded in 2021, the company has raised $268 million, .

8. (tied) , $100M, electric vehicle: Los Angeles-based electric commercial trucking startup Harbinger raised a $100 million Series B co-led by and . Founded in 2021, the company has raised more than $200 million, .

8. (tied) , $100M, data: San Francisco-based Instabase, which creates artificial intelligence-powered solutions to help companies handle unstructured data, locked up a $100 million Series D led by . Founded in 2015, the company has raised $292 million, .

8. (tied) , $100M, biotech: Seattle-based Umoja Biopharma, a developer of in vivo cell therapies, announced the closing of a $100 million Series C co-led by and. Founded in 2019, the company has raised $363 million, .

Big global deals

The biggest funding round this week went to a China-based firm.

• , which provides internet-enabled solutions for the textile industry, raised a $460 million Series C.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Jan. 11 to Jan. 17. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

The new round was co-led by and , along with participation from the likes of , and

Founded in 2015, Astranis has raised more than $750 million, per the company.

The San Francisco-based startup develops small broadband communications satellites for telecoms. The company plans to have more than 100 of its first-generation satellites operating in orbit by 2030.

Earlier this year it debuted its Omega satellites that will provide more bandwidth capacity.

While Astranis did not release a valuation number, the company raised a $200 million round in April 2023 at a $1.6 billion valuation, . That deal was led by .

Space cash

Space startups have done well this year as satellite and communication companies continue to attract new investment.

So far in 2024, space-related startups have raised more than $3.7 billion, per Crunchbase . Such startups raised about $5.9 billion through all of last year — putting this year’s venture funding ahead of that pace.

Of course, that is well off the highs of the previous two years, when space startups locked up $9.6 billion (2022) and $12.3 billion (2021). However, those years were a much different time, with venture capital hitting never-before-seen highs.

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Investment in spacetech, spanning satellite networks, launch technologies and even space travel offerings, was running high. That coincided with some closely watched public market exits, including SPAC offerings from commercial spaceflight provider and launch services provider in 2019 and 2021.

Unfortunately for public investors, things haven’t worked out as hoped. On Thursday, Virgin Orbit it is cutting 85% of its workforce, or about 675 employees, after failing to secure new funding to support continued operations. Shares plunged to around 23 cents on Friday, down about 98% from their post-offering peak.

Other spacetech companies that took the SPAC route to market have also seen their share prices beaten down. This includes launch services provider , rocket system developer , space infrastructure developer , and Virgin Galactic, which are all trading well below their initial offer prices.

To date, public market woes haven’t translated into a shutoff in venture funding to the space. So far this year, spacetech-related companies have pulled in over $480 million in venture funding, per Crunchbase data. The year’s largest funding recipient, Munich-based satellite launch service , just this week that it secured $165 million in Series C investment.

To get a broader sense of where spacetech funding is going, we pulled together a list of 64 companies in the industry that have raised venture or seed funding in the past two years:

Overall, companies on our list have raised $21.7 billion in equity funding to date, no small sum. Of course, the total would be much lower if one took out , which alone has landed over $8 billion in equity financing since its inception in 2002.

After SpaceX, the next-highest funding recipient is , which has secured $4.7 billion to build a global space-based communications system, and , which raised $1.4 billion to develop technology to enable more people to live and work in space. Per Crunchbase, both companies last raised funding in 2021.

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While last year shattered records in venture capital, 2022 started off slow and only declined from there. Large, late-stage rounds were most affected as venture capital started to pull back. However, 10 companies in the U.S. were still able to break the $1 billion barrier in individual raises this year.Ěý

As we close out the year, let’s take a look at the top rounds of 2022:

1. , $2B, gaming: The metaverse is going to be epic — at least that is what both and — the family-owned holding and investment company behind — are betting on. Both invested $1 billion inĚý North Carolina-based Epic Games, valuing the gaming giant at $31.5 billion. The deal came just a week after Epic a partnership with LEGO to develop a “family-friendly” metaverse for kids. The company said the new cash will “advance the company’s vision to build the metaverse.” Founded in 1991, the Fortnite creator has raised more than $7 billion to date, according to Crunchbase data.

2. , $1.7B, space travel: was everywhere this year — including here. Along with the seemingly never-ending purchase, his SpaceX company made headlines after it raised $1.68 billion in June. It was reported that the raise values the Hawthorne, California-based company at around $125 billion. SpaceX raised $1.9 billion in funding in April 2020 and has , according to Crunchbase data. Previous investors in the company include , , and the , among others.

2. (tied) , $1.7B, logistics: Logistics were big this year with the supply chain still supremely mucked up. Novi, Michigan-based Lineage Logistics rode that interest to a huge $1.7 billion private equity round led by in January. The past couple of years exposed many flaws in the global and domestic supply chains — and investors have taken note that it is an industry ripe for disruption. Other startups such as Seattle-based and San Francisco-based also landed large rounds in 2022.

4. (tied) , $1.5B, defense: Costa Mesa, California-based Anduril locked up a Series E worth nearly $1.5 billion in December that valued the company at $8.5 billion. That nearly doubles the company’s previous valuation in June 2021. The funding round was led by . Anduril was founded in 2017 by , most famous for selling virtual reality company to — then called Facebook — for $2 billion. Anduril builds software and hardware enhanced with artificial intelligence and machine learning for the military and defense industry. It works with the U.S. and its allies to create drones, underwater vehicles, and different operating and control systems. Luckey has he started Anduril because many big tech firms were turning their backs on doing business with the , hurting the U.S. military’s ability to modernize as defense needs change.

4. (tied) , $1.5B, retail: Jacksonville, Florida-based Fanatics raised $1.5 billion in a funding round that values the sports platform company at $27 billion. The company — which has exclusive licensing deals with most U.S.-based professional sports leagues and many universities to make and sell official team merchandise — was , less than a year ago. The latest funding round includes new investors , and , as well as existing investors. Earlier this year, Fanatics trading cards for $500 million.

6. , $1.35B, autonomous cars: This was a strange one. In February, Cruise announced that would invest $1.35 billion now that Cruise was operating fully driverless cars. The thing is — SoftBank reneged. That would be the first sign of SoftBank’s growing problems and poor investment strategy. SoftBank had made the commitment to invest when the company hit the milestone back in 2018 with its initial funding of $900 million. After SoftBank backed out, however, acquired SoftBank’s equity ownership stake in Cruise for $2.1 billion and made the startup whole on the round.

7. , $1.15B, financial services: Miami-based market-maker Citadel Securities locked up a $1.15 billion minority investment led by . The company provides both institutional and retail investors with liquidity to execute transactions across an array of equity and fixed income products. Citadel Securities works in more than 50 countries, supporting more than 1,600 clients.

8. (tied), $1B, electric vehicles: San Francisco-based charging startup TeraWatt Infrastructure landed a huge Series A of more than $1 billion back in September. Launched out of stealth in May 2021, TeraWatt Infrastructure has built out a network of charging stations. The company acquires property in “strategically relevant” locations and helps customers operate EV fleets without the need to own and operate their own infrastructure. The new funding comes from funds managed by and existing investors and , and will be used for further development and expansion, including the buildout of a growing portfolio of charging centers. The round is the largest raised by a VC-backed startup in the electric vehicle segment this year, according to Crunchbase data. The company says it previously raised a $100 million seed round.

8. (tied) , $1B, cybersecurity: No cybersecurity company raised a round larger than this Lone Star State cyber company. The $1 billion-plus round was led by , and is cybersecurity’s largest raise since San Jose, California-based cloud security provider closed a $1.3 billion round in November 2021. That was cybersecurity’s only round worth $1 billion or more last year. Addison, Texas-based Securonix offers security information and event management, and extended detection and response capabilities to companies. While we covered the heat the XDR sector has seen here, it is also interesting to add a note about the SIEM space. Earlier this year, news broke that had looked at buying in what would be the giant’s largest acquisition ever. While Splunk does a lot of things, many looked at the deal as a way for Cisco to enhance its IT security with Splunk’s SIEM platform and ability to use data to improve security.

8. (tied) , $1B, health care: and its parent, , have been active health care investors — especially recently. That trend has continued as Alphabet led a $1 billion investment in its former life sciences unit, Verily. Alphabet spun out what would become Verily as its own independent subsidiary in 2015. The South San Francisco-based firm — which introduced a COVID-19 testing program in 2020 — has now raised more than $3.5 billion in capital, according to Crunchbase.

Big global deals

While U.S.-based startups were able to weather the chilly conditions and raise large rounds, three of the five biggest global rounds were raised by companies outside the U.S.

• Denmark-based energy trading house raised a $3.7 billion corporate round.
• China-based , which has five different EVs in the market, raised a Series A worth approximately $2.5 billion.
• , a joint venture operation in India between Viacom, raised a $1.8 billion venture round.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the year. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late.

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