Who Stands to Gain from Anthropic's Upcoming Listing
Several investors who backed the AI firm are already sitting on multi-billion dollar positions ahead of its public debut.
By Andrew Fletcher ·
A public listing for the artificial intelligence company Anthropic is expected later this year, and the financial windfall for its backers would be massive.
The company is preparing for a public offering that could value it at up to $2 trillion. Even before that happens, its current private market valuation sits at $965 billion. At this last private round price, the stakes held by venture capital firms and early investors already amount to billions of dollars, according to a report from Bloomberg.
One of the earliest backers has seen significant returns. Eric Schmidt, who formerly led Google, invested in Anthropic's Series A round back in 2021. PitchBook data shows that at that time, the startup was valued at $461 million. Today, Schmidt owns about 1% of the company. Based on the current private valuation, his stake is worth nearly $10 billion.
Later-stage investors also hold substantial positions. Iconiq, an investment outfit, committed $6 billion to Anthropic last year. At that time, the company's valuation had already reached $183 billion. That late-stage investment is now valued at $17 billion, with the potential to double if the company goes public. Menlo Ventures, a VC firm, has put more than $1 billion into Anthropic over time and led its Series D round. Its stake is currently worth $14 billion.
Sequoia, a well-known VC firm, made a $3 billion investment in Anthropic earlier this year. The firm came on board when the company was already valued at $380 billion. This investment gave Sequoia about 1% ownership, meaning it has already more than doubled the amount it put in.
Other firms also hold positions worth billions. Sound Ventures, which was launched by Guy Oseary and actor Ashton Kutcher, invested $35 million during Anthropic's 2023 Series C round. The firm has since invested an additional $400 million, resulting in a stake worth billions. Kutcher left Sound Ventures this year to launch a new VC firm.
Spark Capital, a VC firm that holds a board seat at Anthropic, invested $75 million in the 2023 Series C round when the company was valued at $5 billion. That position has grown more than ninetyfold to $7 billion.
The impending IPO is poised to generate substantial returns for both early-stage and later-stage investors who backed Anthropic as it grew into a leading AI lab.
Source: TechCrunch
