Private Markets: Ring maker Oura to become $11B company

Oura Health Oy, the maker of the popular Oura health and fitness ring, is closing in on a roughly $11B valuation. Meanwhile, Tether Holdings, issuer of the globe’s biggest stablecoin, is reportedly in discussions with investors to raise $15B-$20B in a deal.

This week’s private company news:

• Oura Health Oy, the maker of the popular Oura health and fitness ring, is closing in on a roughly $11B valuation after selling about 3 million rings over the past year, Bloomberg’s Lizette Chapman and Mark Gurman reported. The Finnish company is raising $875M in a new Series E financing round valuing it around $10.9B, according to people familiar with the matter. That would double Oura’s $5B valuation from its Series D round last November.
• Tether Holdings, issuer of the globe’s biggest stablecoin, is in discussions with investors to raise $15B-$20B in a deal that could propel the crypto firm into the highest ranks of the world’s most valuable private companies, Bloomberg’s Ryan Weeks and Todd Gillespie report. The company is seeking the funds in exchange for a roughly 3% stake through a private placement, the authors say. The Fly notes that Tether invested $775M in Rumble (RUM) last December. 

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

• Groq – The pioneer in AI inference announced it had secured $750M in new financing at a post-money valuation of $6.9B. The funding round was led by Disruptive with significant investment from Blackrock, Neuberger Berman, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners and a large U.S.-based West Coast mutual fund manager. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and Intel (INTC).
• Capital Rx – The enterprise health technology company and benefit administrator said it secured a $400M investment, including a $252M Series F funding round. Publicly traded companies in the space include CVS Health (CVS), UnitedHealth (UNH), and Cigna (CI).
• Filevine – The pioneer of the Legal Operating Intelligence System announced it raised $400M in an all-equity financing. Publicly traded companies in the space include LegalZoom (LZ), OpenText (OTEX), and DocuSign (DOCU).
• Lila Sciences Garners – the scientific superintelligence platform said it secure $235M in a Series A funding, co-led by Braidwell and Collective Global. Publicly traded companies in the space include Evogene (EVGN).
• AppZen – The Agentic AI platform for finance teams announced it raised $180M in growth funding. The round was led Riverwood Capital. Publicly traded companies in the space include Expensify (EXFY), Bill (BILL), and BlackLine (BL).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• ByteDance – Operating in the Social Media sector, ByteDance has an estimated valuation of $300. The company’s social media platform TikTok has been in the spotlight this week as President Trump signs order advancing deal for TikTok U.S. Publicly traded competitors include Meta (META), Snap (SNAP), Pinterest (PINS) and Alphabet (GOOGL).
• The Bot Company – The robotics/drone platform has an estimated valuation of about $2B, and is one of the more prominent newer unicorns in 2025. Publicly traded companies in the space include Knightscope (KSCP), Serve Robotics (SERV), and Rockwell Automation (ROK).
• Celestial AI – The AI hardware/data center accelerators company has an estimated value of $2.5B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and Intel (INTC).
• Underdog Fantasy – With a valuation of about $1.3B, the company operates in the sports gaming space. Publicly traded companies in the space include DraftKings (DKNG), Flutter Entertainment (FLUT), and MGM Resorts (MGM).
• Insilico Medicine – The AI-driven drug discovery startup recently raised to unicorn status with latest funding round. ByteDance – operating in the Social Media sector, ByteDance has an estimated valuation of $300. Publicly traded competitors include Exscientia (EXAI) and Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX).

IPOs to watch: 

• Medline – The medical supplies maker Medline is weighing filing publicly for its IPO as soon as late next month, Bloomberg’s Bailey Lipschultz and Anthony Hughes reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A public listing, which could be the biggest in the U.S. this year, could raise about $5B, the author says, noting that Blackstone (BX), Carlyle (CG), and Hellman & Friedman are also backers in Medline.
• 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.