OpenAI Weighs Funding Round at $1.2tn Valuation Before IPO

OpenAI is the AI company behind ChatGPT and its recent Astra model. According to the Financial Times, OpenAI is weighing a new funding round that would value the company at around $1.2tn ahead of an anticipated initial public offering. The discussions are still preliminary, with the round's size, investors and timing not yet settled. A round at this scale would mark a further step-up from the $852bn valuation OpenAI reached in its most recent funding close earlier this year.

OpenAI is an underlying asset of VenCap 6, 10A, 13A, 13B, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Shield AI in Talks for New Funding at $20bn+ Valuation

Shield AI is a defence technology company building autonomous drones and AI-piloted aircraft for the US military. The company is in discussions to raise a new funding round that would value it at least $20bn, roughly 60% above the $12.7bn valuation it reached in its March round. That prior round, a $2bn Series G, was used in part to fund Shield AI's acquisition of simulation and sensor software company Aechelon Technology.

Shield AI is an underlying asset of VenCap 6.

Helion Energy Raises $500m Series G at $15.5bn Valuation

Helion Energy is a fusion energy company aiming to be the first to commercialise fusion power. The company has expanded its Series G round to $500m, adding new crossover, pension and sovereign wealth investors to a round first announced in June. The financing brings Helion's total capital raised to more than $1.5bn as it works towards a power purchase agreement to deliver at least 50 megawatts of fusion electricity to Microsoft by 2028. The additional capital will support manufacturing at its Everett facility as the company scales towards commercial fusion.

Helion Energy is an underlying asset of VenCap 6, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Temporal Raises $550m Series E at $12.6bn Valuation

Temporal is a workflow orchestration platform used by engineering teams to build and run reliable distributed applications. The company has raised $550m in a Series E round that lifts its valuation to $12.6bn. Temporal says its annualised run rate has grown more than 200% year-on-year. The capital will support continued growth of the platform as enterprise adoption of durable workflow infrastructure accelerates.

Temporal is an underlying asset of VenCap 6, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Wonder Raises $125m From DoorDash and Sells Grubhub Campus Dining For $300m

Wonder is a food hall and delivery technology platform. DoorDash has invested $125m in Wonder, adding to the $650m Series D round Wonder closed in July at a valuation of more than $9bn pre-money. As part of the same strategic partnership, DoorDash is acquiring Wonder's Grubhub Campus Dining business for $300m, in a deal expected to close in the first half of 2027. Wonder will use the new funding to continue opening physical locations and to invest in technology, robotics and AI, including its recently launched Infinite Makeline bowl-making system.

Wonder is an underlying asset of VenCap 6, 10A, 12, 13A, 13B, 15, 16 and 17.

Tabby Raises $233m Series F at $6.5bn Valuation

Tabby is a Saudi Arabia-headquartered fintech offering buy-now-pay-later and broader financial services. The company has raised $233m in a Series F round valuing it at $6.5bn, nearly double its valuation from February 2025. Tabby has been profitable since 2023 and now processes more than $18bn in annualised transaction volume across 25 million registered users and 70,000 business partners. The new capital will fund expansion into additional credit, payments and money management products.

Tabby is an underlying asset of VenCap 6, 13B, 15 and 16.

Factory Raises $200m at $5bn Valuation

Factory builds Droids, autonomous AI agents that handle software engineering tasks for enterprise teams. The company has raised $200m at a $5bn valuation, more than tripling the $1.5bn valuation it reached just five months earlier and marking its third large financing round in under a year. The round drew backing from Blackstone, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Evantic Capital, Sound Ventures, NEA, Mantis VC and Clearlake. The new capital will support continued investment in enterprise-grade governance, security and model routing as it competes with rivals including Cursor and Cognition.

Factory is an underlying asset of VenCap 18 and 19.

Profound Raises $180m Series D at $1.8bn Valuation

Profound helps brands track and shape how they appear in AI-generated search engines. The company has raised $180m in a Series D round valuing it at $1.8bn, nearly double the $1bn valuation it reached just seven months earlier. Profound already works with brands including Target, Walmart, Figma and MongoDB, and the new funding will support continued product expansion.

Profound is an underlying asset of VenCap 16 and 17.