Private Markets: AI model startup Reflection AI raises $2B

AI model startup Reflection AI has raised $2B in new funding at an $8B valuation. Meanwhile, online prediction market operator Kalshi announced via X that it has raised over $300M in a new round of financing at a valuation of $5B.

This week’s private company news: xAI, the artificial intelligence startup backed by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, is raising more financing than previously planned, including an equity investment from Nvidia (NVDA), to bring its ongoing funding round to $20B, Bloomberg’s Carmen Arroyo and Ed Ludlow report, citing people familiar with the matter. The financing, which includes equity and debt, will be linked to the Nvidia GPUs that the AI startup intends to use in Colossus 2, the name of its biggest data center site, the authors note.

Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:

• Reflection AI – the AI model startup raised $2B in new funding, in a round led by Nvidia (NVDA). The deal values Reflection AI at $8B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and UiPath (PATH).
• Kalshi – The online prediction market operator has recently raised $300M-plus at a $5B valuation from Sequoia, a16z, Paradigm and others. Recent concerns about the rise of prediction markets have weighed on shares of online sports betting stocks including DraftKings (DKNG) and Flutter Entertainment (FLUT).
• Base Power – The energy company building a grid for the future-starting with battery-powered home energy service raised $1B in Series C financing, led by Addition. Publicly traded companies in the space include Microvast (MVST) and QuantumScape (QS).
• Expedition Therapeutics – The biotech company developing therapies for novel inflammatory and respiratory diseases closed an oversubscribed and upsized $165M Series A financing. Publicly traded companies in the space include Insmed (INSM) and aTyr Pharma (LIFE).
• EvenUp – The personal injury AI announced a $150M Series E round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Publicly traded companies in the space include RELX (RELX), Thomson Reuters (TRI), and CACI International (CACI).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• Modular – The rising AI infrastructure startup co-founded by Tim Davis has a valuation of about $2.4B. Publicly traded companies in the space include CoreWeave (CRWV), Astera Labs (ALAB), and Equinix (EQIX).
• Statsig – With a valuation of about $1.08B, the product experimentation platform achieved unicorn status via a $100M Series C in May. Publicly traded companies in the space Amplitude (AMPL).
• CHAOS Industries – Valued at $2B, the defense technology startup recently emerging as a unicorn. Publicly traded companies in the space include Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), and Raytheon Technologies (RTX).
• Owner – The restaurant tech platform is valued at around $1B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Toast (TOST), Olo (OLO), and Block (XYZ).
• Fleetio – The fleet management/SaaS company has recently reached unicorn status following a new funding round. Publicly traded companies in the space include Samsara (IOT), Powerfleet (AIOT), and MiX Telematics (MIXT).

IPOs to watch:

• Ethos (LIFE) – The life insurance technology company announced that it filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.
• Lendbuzz (LBZZ) – The company is offering an undetermined number of shares of its common stock and the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering additional shares of common stock, according to an initial public offering prospectus filed with the SEC.
• Alliance Laundry Systems (ALH) – The company announced that it has publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. SEC relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. Alliance Laundry Systems intends to list its common stock on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “ALH.”
• Sea Forrest International (SFTI) – The company has filed for an initial public offering of 3.75M Class A shares and anticipates that the initial public offering price of the Class A shares will be between $4.00 and $4.50 per share. The prospectus filed with the SEC stated in part, “The company is headquartered in Singapore and through the subsidiaries SF (Engineering) and SF (Power), are involved in engineering design and consultancy services in energy management and clean energy systems, and wholesale of marine equipment and accessories, ship and offshore structure repairs and modification while afloat, relating to offshore maintenance, repairs, and overhauling services.”

“Private Markets” is The Fly’s recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.