|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cerebras IPO Sets Up Test for Secondary-Market Valuations
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. Cerebras Systems’ planned initial public offering could be putting secondary pricing and public-market valuations on a collision course. How public markets price the artificial-intelligence chip manufacturer may provide an important test for the reliability of secondary-market pricing.
Public-market valuations are based on readily available financial fundamentals. Private secondary investors, on the other hand, are typically working with fewer data points, often pricing assets based on hype, momentum, gut feeling and even hope. They also pay a premium for a limited supply of shares, placing additional upward pressure on secondary prices.
Trading activity for Cerebras, which manufactures plate-size processors to slash AI training time and run high-speed predictions needed to enable real-time digital agents, has been relatively limited. The secondary exchange data aggregator Caplight shows 41 closed trades for the company over the past year.
Still, Cerebras has seen a 5% boost in share price since its IPO announcement and, as of April 24, shares were trading at a 28% premium to its Series H valuation. This would give the company a valuation of $29.4 billion compared with its last round of $23 billion, according to Caplight.
Darian Shirazi, managing partner at Gradient, said he personally bought shares of Cerebras on the secondary market two months ago at $100 a piece. The trade represented a roughly 12% premium to its latest funding round, but Shirazi is bullish on the company and thinks Cerebras could be a $100 million company in the near future.
“If you believe that the AI inference market is infinitely sized, which I do, this is going to be the chip that is the standard for inference,” he said. “The future value here seems to be significantly larger than what we’re reporting today and the limitation is how quickly they can manufacture the chips.”
Read the full article.
|
|
|
And now on to the news...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Infleqtion CEO Matt Kinsella at the New York Stock Exchange. BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quantum appetite. It could be years until quantum computing delivers on its promise to revolutionize everything from financial trading to drug discovery. But that’s not stopping the companies developing quantum hardware and software from speeding headlong into the public markets. Three different quantum computing companies—Infleqtion, Xanadu and Horizon Quantum—have gone public in recent months, while another five have announced plans to do so later this year.
-
“There’s so much appetite for quantum assets in this market right now,” said Antoine Legault, VP of equity research at Wedbush Securities.
-
Quantum companies IQM, Pasqal, Terra Quantum, Seeqc, and Quantinuum have all unveiled plans to go public this year, the majority through SPAC deals.
|
|
|
|
|
“Strike while the iron’s hot, and the proverbial iron’s really hot in quantum right now.”
|
|
—Antoine Legault, VP of equity research at Wedbush Securities
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wall Street Is Sorting Software Companies Into Winners and Losers
|
|
|
The threat that AI tools will fuel a software apocalypse has rattled stocks, triggered record withdrawals from private-debt funds and stirred fears of a new type of credit crisis. But a key market is sending a more mixed message: Not all software companies are equally endangered. While prices of software-company loans have fallen sharply on average since late January, a Wall Street Journal analysis of more than 100 loans showed wide variations in price moves, with parts of the sector hit much harder than others.
|
|
Google Expands Anthropic Investment With $40 Billion Commitment
|
|
|
Alphabet’s Google, already a close partner to Anthropic, plans to invest as much as $40 billion in additional capital in the company, a spokesperson for the artificial intelligence company said. Google will invest $10 billion in Anthropic at its current $350 billion valuation, and could invest up to $30 billion more if the company meets certain performance milestones. Anthropic this month has secured up to $65 billion in new funding commitments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
People
Autonomize AI, an intelligence platform for healthcare, appointed Sandhya Gardner as chief medical officer. She was most recently at Healthedge.
Ambience Healthcare, an AI platform for clinicians, appointed Michael Han as chief medical officer. He most recently served as enterprise chief medical information officer at MultiCare Health System.
|
|
|
|
|
Orkes, an agentic orchestration platform, picked up $60 million in Series B funding. AVP led the round, with General Partner Alex Scherbakovsky joining the company’s board.
ComfyUI, an AI creation engine for visual professionals, scored a $30 million investment led by Craft Ventures at a $500 million valuation.
Scatr, a Cleveland, Ohio-based cybersecurity startup, closed a $12.6 million Series A round led by First In.
Almanac Health, a clinical AI platform, landed $10 million in seed funding. F-Prime led the round, which included participation from General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Iridius, a Seattle-based AI platform for regulated workflow execution, snagged an $8.6 million seed round led by Chalfen Ventures.
Astor, a San Francisco-based investment advisory platform, was seeded with a $5 million investment. Monashees led the round, which saw participation from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, 468 Capital and others.
Brev, a San Francisco-headquartered startup that bridges the gap between tools, meetings and business goals, picked up $3.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Resolute Ventures.
TriFetch, a San Francisco-based startup building an automation layer for independent specialty clinics, secured $1.9 million in pre-seed funding led by Nexus Venture Partners.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
An inflatable astronaut and an inflatable building at Proto-Town. BRENDA BAZÁN FOR WSJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
