Launchbay Newsletter 1.10.2024
Newsletter
30 September

AI startup Anthropic is reportedly on track to generate $1 billion in revenue this year, marking a staggering 1,000% year-over-year growth. In our latest blog post, we analyze the hyper-growth of AI companies at both the Model and Application levels, with Anthropic featured as a key example.

Cerebras Systems is set to launch its initial public offering this week, aiming to raise up to $1 billion in a New York listing, potentially valuing the company at $7 billion to $8 billion. This presents a strong case for secondary investors, who had the opportunity to invest at a $2.1 billion valuation just six months ago or at $4.8 billion three months ago.

Plaid's CEO revealed in Forbes that the company is targeting $308M in revenue for 2024 with 20% year-over-year growth, outlining a bold plan to reignite growth through product expansion.
Rex Salisbury's analysis compared Plaid to public companies in the Financial Data and Analytics space, suggesting it should be valued with at least a 10x multiple. However, the secondary market places an even higher value on Plaid, with multiples closer to 14x.
With its strong data advantage, Plaid is targeting various fintech AI use cases, competing with horizontal AI development platforms, where multiples for high-liquidity private leaders can reach up to 20x.

Speaking of multiples in AI development platforms, Scale AI reported a near quadrupling of its revenues to almost $400 million in the first half of the year. Currently, the company is listed on the secondary market with a 17.5x multiple based on its current revenue run rate.
Alex Wilhelm concludes that this valuation is relatively low for a company growing as fast as Scale AI. His takeaway: “I presume that the company’s people-powered, AI-serving tools — reinforcement learning from human feedback, or RHLF, and human-in-the-loop data labeling — don’t have the sort of margins that SaaS concerns generally target.”

Weekly updates from OpenAI: the company is set to remove its non-profit control, paving the way for Sam Altman to receive equity, while CTO Mira Murati has announced she’s leaving the company.
Linas Beliūnas remarked a year ago, “ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer app in internet history, and the 'OpenAI Mafia' is the fastest-growing group of founders and entrepreneurs we’ve ever seen 🤯.” While competitors may surpass ChatGPT in audience growth, the statement about the rapid rise of founders from OpenAI remains just as true today.
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Fintech banking startup Chime has tapped Morgan Stanley to lead its planned IPO next year, according to Bloomberg. Currently, Chime is valued at $8.7B on the secondary market, down from its $25B valuation in its last primary round in 2021. However, the company remains bid-driven, with 70% of listed volume over the past three months consisting of bids, according to ApeVue.

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