OpenAI discusses up to $30 billion at $1.25 trillion, Legora raises $550 million, and more - AI Funding Brief #88

In this edition, covering 20 to 24 October:

• OpenAI is reportedly discussing a raise of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, led by Coatue and UAE investors.
• Legora raised a $550 million Series E at an $8.8 billion valuation, and Flapping Airplanes raised $1 billion at $6 billion.
• Salesforce agreed to buy Braze for about $5.66 billion, and OpenAI bought Orchestra Bio.

The largest sums

OpenAI is reportedly discussing a round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, led by Coatue and UAE investors. Anthropic's draft IPO filing shows a net loss of more than $80 billion in the first half, the Wall Street Journal reports. DeepSeek has reportedly raised about $15 billion, with CATL and Tencent named as potential investors. Fireworks AI is in early talks to raise at a $30 billion to $40 billion valuation, Business Insider reported. SpaceX's AI revenue rose to $7.6 billion in the third quarter, mainly from renting compute. OpenAI · Anthropic filing · DeepSeek · Fireworks AI · SpaceX

Acquisitions

Salesforce agreed to buy Braze for about $5.66 billion in enterprise value, paying $47.50 a share in cash. OpenAI acquired Orchestra Bio, which builds agents for drug development, for its Rosalind life sciences work, and Meta acquired AI analytics platform Sundial. Rivian bought Third Dimension AI for self driving simulation, and CBRE agreed to buy Onnec for £460 million plus up to £300 million in earnouts. Cognizant is buying DyFlex Solutions, Newforma bought Lumi AI, Azra AI completed its purchase of Blackford Analysis, and Destinus bought Perciv AI. Braze · Orchestra Bio · Sundial · Rivian · CBRE · Cognizant · Newforma · Azra AI · Destinus

Rounds of $100 million or more

Legora raised $550 million at an $8.8 billion valuation with annual recurring revenue above $200 million, and Flapping Airplanes, an AI research startup founded in late 2025, raised $1 billion at $6 billion. ASI raised $325 million at $3 billion, Otter.ai took $320 million of non dilutive capital from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, Pigment raised $250 million at $2.3 billion, and Pathos AI $237 million in a round led by Bristol Myers Squibb. Legora · Flapping Airplanes · ASI · Otter.ai · Pigment · Pathos AI

Bob McGrew's Arda raised $230 million at $1.5 billion for AI in manufacturing, Kevin Weil's Warp Sciences $215 million to automate drug labs, Eka Robotics $150 million at $1.45 billion, and Tractian $130 million at $1.4 billion. Reliable Robotics added $115 million, Peak Energy raised $108 million for sodium ion storage, Vegafin Capital $106 million and Blackwall $100 million at $2.2 billion. Nvidia and TCV joined an extension of Higgsfield's Series B. Arda · Warp Sciences · Eka · Tractian · Reliable Robotics · Peak Energy · Vegafin · Blackwall · Higgsfield

Rounds of $20 million to $99 million

Blacksmith raised $66 million at a $1 billion valuation and Daytona $60 million at $1 billion. Kevel raised $52 million, Formic $50 million for factory robots, Different a $48 million seed round for AI marketing, and Coherence Neuro $45 million for a brain implant, backed by the OpenAI Startup Fund and Founders Fund. Cognitive Credit secured $40 million, Watchtower Labs $35 million, and Mave and Mach9 $34 million each. Blacksmith · Daytona · Kevel · Formic · Different · Coherence Neuro · Cognitive Credit · Watchtower Labs · Mave · Mach9

Enact Intelligence and Maxinsights raised $30 million each for robotics, Beyond Vision more than €28 million for drones, Slingshot Insurance $27 million, and Nirva and Qualitate $25 million each. CapitalOS raised $21.9 million, and Tiger Global is leading about $20 million for FORT Robotics ahead of its SPAC merger. Enact · Maxinsights · Beyond Vision · Slingshot · Nirva · Qualitate · CapitalOS · FORT Robotics

Smaller rounds

Modelyo raised about $17 million, Firstwork $15 million, QuantrolOx €12 million, Electric Plant and Azoma $11.2 million each, Ultra Security $10 million, and CareerVillage received a $10 million grant. BioStack raised $9.5 million, YGO €8 million, Opply $7.5 million, Indurex €7 million, BOB $5.5 million, Straia $3.1 million, and Genie Health, Karta AI and Reduck $3 million each. Cygrid raised €2.66 million, Rulen €1.8 million, EstateMin €1 million and Jenz €540,000. Australian Cuttable raised A$20 million, Israeli Two Delta tens of millions of dollars, and in China YITA raised more than RMB 100 million and Jingji Intelligent tens of millions of RMB. Modelyo · Firstwork · QuantrolOx · Electric Plant · Azoma · Ultra Security · CareerVillage · BioStack · YGO · Opply · Indurex · BOB · Straia · Genie Health · Karta AI · Reduck · Cygrid · Rulen · EstateMin · Jenz · Cuttable · Two Delta · YITA · Jingji

Listings and markets

Korean neocloud Elice fell as much as 33% in its Kosdaq debut after a $151 million IPO, DayOne is weighing a smaller or later US IPO, and humanoid robot maker Noetix Robotics has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong listing. NEXTDC shares fell more than 40% after a power delay in Melbourne. European tech companies raised €27.8 billion in the third quarter, €6.7 billion of it in AI, and Andreessen Horowitz renamed its crypto unit a16z Frontier to invest in AI and robotics too. Elice · DayOne · Noetix · NEXTDC · European funding · a16z Frontier

Results

Meta's third quarter revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, SAP's cloud revenue rose 26%, and IBM raised its free cash flow outlook on $17.1 billion of revenue. Lam Research reported a record $8.22 billion, Besi's orders rose 96% from a year earlier, and Infosys said AI made up 10.5% of its quarterly revenue. Cambricon missed sales forecasts as memory shortages limited production. Meta · SAP · IBM · Lam Research · Besi · Infosys · Cambricon