{"id":5279,"date":"2026-06-02T11:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=5279"},"modified":"2026-06-02T11:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:47:39","slug":"anthropics-confidential-s-1-signals-summer-ai-ipo-race-could-heat-up-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=5279","title":{"rendered":"Anthropic\u2019s confidential S-1 signals summer AI IPO race could heat up fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Anthropic was open about its confidential S-1 filing on Monday.<\/p>\n

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The $965 billion AI juggernaut announced the filing\u2014which we cannot yet see\u2014on its blog. It\u2019s a contradiction, but then Anthropic is its own kind of contradiction, a still-young private company we know quite a lot about.<\/p>\n

The nearly trillion-dollar startup (if it can be called such a thing) has gotten so big that it\u2019s hard to hide in the markets the way a growth-spurting elephant is hard to hide in a zoo. The company\u2014founded in 2021 and helmed by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei<\/a>\u2014has seen a historic rise. Back when our AI editor Jeremy Kahn wrote his Fortune<\/em> cover story on Anthropic in December 2025, the company was valued at $183 billion. One prophetic section:<\/p>\n

[Dario] thinks Anthropic could surpass OpenAI as the world\u2019s largest AI company by revenue. \u201cI would argue it\u2019s maybe even the most likely world in which our revenue passes theirs a year from now,\u201d he says. Then he pauses before adding, \u201cI think I\u2019d rather have the largest revenue than the largest data center, because one is black [on an income statement], and the other is red. Again, things I\u2019ve had to learn about business: It\u2019s better to make money than just to lose money.<\/em><\/p>\n

What a difference a few months can make. Anthropic\u2019s annualized revenue run rate hit $47 billion in May, and while that\u2019s no guarantee of the future, it is<\/em> astonishing. It\u2019s dazzling not only for its scale, but for the way that, in half a decade, upstart Anthropic seems to have gotten a leg-up on ChatGPT maker OpenAI (comparatively last valued at $852 billion).<\/p>\n

One wonders what investor appetite will look like for Anthropic versus OpenAI. Reports have suggested that OpenAI\u2019s financials aren\u2019t as strong as Anthropic\u2019s, and word\u2019s spread that OpenAI shares aren\u2019t as in demand in the secondary market. Meanwhile, competition for Anthropic secondary shares has been rabid, as I\u2019ve previously reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The relentless demand for Anthropic\u2019s May Series H\u2014which raised $65 billion and kicked the company\u2019s valuation up to near-one-trillion\u2014was so intense that it facilitated concerns about financial shenanigans across the private markets, looking to particularly capitalize on both AI FOMO and Anthropic FOMO. There is also some speculation that if Anthropic makes it to the public markets first, it could dampen demand for its less profitable rival. That\u2019s the chess match aspect that\u2019s undoubtedly playing out behind the scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few vital caveats, the most important of which is: A confidential S-1 is still a maybe. We have no real numbers yet, and timing remains touch-and-go. (I\u2019ve seen many confidential S-1s go nowhere at all. The filing can be withdrawn at any time, and sometimes the public never hears about it.) So, everything has an asterisk for now; Anthropic could go public this summer, this fall, or never.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, it\u2019s very much a signal, and one the company wants to send loud and clear, given its own blog post on the filing. To me, it seems the signal is this\u2014that Anthropic intends to beat OpenAI to the public markets. Seemingly, they\u2019ve indeed beaten OpenAI to the confidential filing, which means the race is on, though very much undecided.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s OpenAI\u2019s move. They could motor to file, and try to leapfrog Anthropic this summer. And if I had to guess, how SpaceX fares will be a factor too (though how much is unclear\u2014Elon Musk market logic seems to have its own rules of physics).\u00a0<\/p>\n

We may already know quite a bit about Anthropic, but if the company continues following the IPO path, we will soon learn a lot more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n

Allie Garfinkle
X:<\/strong> @agarfinks
Email:<\/strong> alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com<\/p>\n

Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.<\/p>\n

Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter<\/em>.<\/em> Subscribe here.<\/p>\n

VENTURE CAPITAL<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Oak<\/b> Hill Bio<\/b>, an Altrincham, U.K.-based clinical-stage biotechnology company that acquires and develops rare disease therapeutics deprioritized by large pharmaceutical companies, raised $32.5 million in Series A funding. <\/span>Balyasny<\/b> Asset<\/b> Management<\/b>, <\/span>venBio<\/b>, and <\/span>Janus<\/b> Henderson<\/b> Investors<\/b> led the round and were joined by <\/span>KCap<\/b> Biotechnology Fund<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Sekai<\/b>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered interactive content platform, raised $26 million across seed and Series A rounds. <\/span>Khosla<\/b> Ventures<\/b> and <\/span>Connect<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the $20 million Series A round, and Mayfield led the $6 million seed round.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Invisix<\/b>, an Eindhoven, Netherlands-based semiconductor metrology and inspection technology company, raised \u20ac20 million ($23.3 million) in seed funding from <\/span>Hitachi<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, <\/span>Transition<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Kosmos<\/b>, a Chicago, Ill.-based operational intelligence platform for enterprise support and engineering teams, raised $5 million in seed funding. <\/span>Norwest<\/b> led the round.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Zazume<\/b>, a Barcelona, Spain-based platform offering landlords guaranteed rent collection and tenancy management services, raised \u20ac2.5 million ($2.9 million) in Series A funding. <\/span>Nordstar<\/b> and <\/span>GTV<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round.<\/span><\/p>\n

PRIVATE EQUITY<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Agility<\/b> Retail<\/b> Group<\/b>, a portfolio company of <\/span>San<\/b> Francisco<\/b> Equity<\/b> Partners<\/b>, acquired <\/span>The<\/b> Marco<\/b> Company<\/b>, a Fort Worth, Texas-based manufacturer of grocery store fixtures. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>GI<\/b> Partners<\/b> acquired a majority stake in <\/span>HES<\/b> Facilities<\/b> Management<\/b>, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based essential facilities services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Steliau<\/b>, backed by <\/span>Astorg<\/b>, agreed to acquire <\/span>Acal<\/b> BFI<\/b>, a Wokingham, U.K.-based distributor of electronic components and solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed. <\/span><\/p>\n

OTHERS<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Betterworks<\/b> acquired <\/span>Rypple<\/b>, a San Francisco-based AI platform designed specifically for managers. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Salesforce<\/b> agreed to acquire <\/span>Contentful<\/b>, a Berlin, Germany-based composable content platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

IPOS<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Quantinuum<\/b>, a Broomfield, Colo.-based quantum computing company and spin-out of Honeywell, now plans to raise up to $1.4 billion in an offering of 26.5 million shares priced between $53 and $55 on the Nasdaq.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>ERock<\/b>, a Houston, Texas-based energy company, plans to raise up to $642 million in an offering of 27.9 million shares priced between $20 and $23 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company posted $191 million in sales for the year ending March 31. <\/span><\/p>\n

PEOPLE<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Permira<\/b>, a London, U.K.-based private equity firm, appointed <\/span>Mike<\/b> Hoffmann<\/b> as a Partner on the firm\u2019s technology team. Previously, he was with <\/span>Thoma<\/b> Bravo<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Scale Venture Partners<\/b>, a Foster City, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted <\/span>Sabina<\/b> Smith<\/b> to Principal. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n