- OpenAI just raised $8.3 billion in a fresh round led by Dragoneer Investment Group. The AI startup is well on its way to raising $40 billion by year’s end.
Back in March, OpenAI announced a plan to raise up to $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation by the end of the year, with $10 billion becoming immediately available (thanks to SoftBank, which footed 75% of the bill), and the remaining $30 billion arriving by the end of the year.
On Friday, OpenAI made strong headway on its financial plans, raising another $8.3 billion at that same $300 billion valuation, the New York Times’ DealBook was first to report. Demand for the round was off the charts—five times oversubscribed, according to the NYT—which meant many early investors participating in the new round were reportedly frustrated by getting smaller allocations so OpenAI could prioritize new backers.
OpenAI’s latest fundraising round was led by Marc Stad’s Dragoneer Investment Group, an early investor in Spotify and Uber. Dragoneer wrote a massive $2.8 billion check, which means OpenAI now represents roughly 10% of the firm’s funds.
The round also included new investors, including T. Rowe Price, as well as a pair of giants from the private equity world, TPG and Blackstone. Other participants in the round included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Fidelity Management, Thrive Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Coatue Management, and Tiger Global.
The New York Times’ DealBook reports OpenAI’s annual recurring revenue, which was reported as $10 billion in June, now exceeds $13 billion almost two months later, and may pass the $20 billion mark by year’s end.
To offer some context: Anthropic, OpenAI’s nearest rival in terms of revenue and capital raised, has $14.3 billion in lifetime fundraising, and its valuation is $61.5 billion as of March—though it is currently in talks to raise another $5 billion at a $170 billion valuation. Perplexity AI, another rival, raised $100 million last month, bringing its valuation to $18 billion. Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has raised $10 billion at a reported $80 billion valuation, though current fundraising efforts could bring that number up to $200 billion.
Of course, all of this money brings OpenAI closer to an initial public offering. The company is currently in the midst of restructuring itself to become a for-profit company (which requires a green light from Microsoft), so there is still no announced timeline for an IPO. But the latest round means OpenAI has raised more than any other AI company by a wide margin, which gives it the upper hand in the red-hot sector.
OpenAI might face a true challenge, though, from some of the more established Silicon Valley giants, such as Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pouring billions into AI resources, including talent; its $72 billion AI infrastructure spend is almost 80% higher than OpenAI’s entire fundraising round this year. Meta is also the sixth-most valuable company in the world with a market cap approaching $2 trillion.
OpenAI did not wish to comment further on the news, or on its future plans.
