Analysis of the week

Swedish FinTech giant Klarna has made significant strides in its H1 2024 financial report, highlighting a clear path toward profitability and improved operational efficiency. The BNPL leader's latest financial results and strategic initiatives reveal a company harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize its operations and financial outlook. This AI-driven transformation is key to understanding Klarna's current standing and future potential as it gears up for a possible IPO.
For a deeper analysis, check out Linas Beliūnas' newsletter https://linas.substack.com/p/weeklyfintechpulse315

Round of the week

Tech giants Apple and Nvidia are reportedly in discussions to invest in OpenAI, the creator of the highly popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. Microsoft, already a significant investor in OpenAI, is also expected to join the investment round.
Apple's interest in OpenAI is particularly notable, as the company typically avoids investing in startups. This potential move aligns with Apple's recent announcement of plans to integrate ChatGPT into its upcoming iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia operating systems.
Nvidia, a key player in AI chip manufacturing, has been a long-time partner of OpenAI, providing the hardware that powers ChatGPT and other AI models. Their potential investment is the least surprising and would further strengthen this critical partnership.

OpenAI, rated 10 out of 10 by Launchbay Growth score on Launchbay Platform, has revealed that ChatGPT has hit the milestone of 200 million weekly active users.

Meanwhile, the improved version of Alexa that Amazon’s expected to release this year will primarily be powered by Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence model, according to Reuters. Anthropic, also rated 10 out of 10 by Launchbay Growth score, recently reported that Claude, has surpassed $1 million in mobile app revenue within just 16 weeks.

Stripe’s new tender offer

Stripe is planning a new tender offer to repurchase shares held by employees, this time financing it entirely with its own cash reserves, a departure from previous employee tenders. This funding strategy highlights the significant recovery Stripe has made since the business downturn it faced a couple of years ago.
Read more https://www.theinformation.com/articles/stripe-now-gushing-money-plans-new-employee-tender

Another growth champion

Crible, the Data Engine for IT and Security, rated 10 out of 10 by Launchbay Growth score on Launchbay Platform, Closes $319 Million Series E at $3.5 Billion Valuation to Revolutionize the Enterprise Data Market.

ARR Growth: The company’s ARR has grown at a 163% CAGR for the last four years;
Customer Growth: The customer base has grown by triple digits YoY for five straight years, including a quarter of the Fortune 500 companies that are now Cribl customers;
NDR: Customers continue to grow and expand with Cribl as the company boasts a net dollar retention (NDR) of over 130% over the past 12 months;
Multi-product Adoption: Customers purchasing multiple products across the portfolio increased by over 300% over the past 12 months.
https://cribl.io/news/cribl-announces-319m-series-e/

Deep dive into small-cap secondaries strategy

Seine Capital presented a research paper, detailing the benefits of a so-called Small market strategy in secondary investments. Small market strategy corresponds for funds below $250M.
According to the report, the secondaries market is characterized by several market frictions which bolster the claim that, particularly for the small-cap segment, Secondaries funds can acquire high quality assets at meaningful discounts. Futher reading https://www.seinecap.com