Dealmaker by The Information Staff

Two times/week

Dealmaker

By The Information Staff

Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.

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Recent Editions

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Images via Getty

Who Will Own the New OpenAI, in One Chart

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 16, 2025 2:45pm PDT

One question has loomed over OpenAI investors for years: How would they generate a return on their investment? The ChatGPT maker is a nonprofit that capped the potential returns of early backers in its for-profit arm, such as Khosla Ventures and Microsoft, and would prevent the newer investors including Thrive Capital and SoftBank from reaping... One question has loomed over OpenAI investors for years: How would they generate a return on...

Photo via Getty

The AI Haves and Have Nots at Goldman's Big Tech Event

By Valida Pau · Sep 11, 2025 2:31pm PDT

At the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Goldman Sachs is wrapping up three and half days of its annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.Attendees were mostly in a buoyant mood, but not because this week is on track to be the biggest of the year for initial public offerings. Instead, the biggest pop during the conference... At the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Goldman Sachs is wrapping up three and half days...

Art by Shane Burke

The $115 Billion Reason OpenAI Will Raise More Money

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 9, 2025 12:00pm PDT

Last week, I reported on how OpenAI updated its financial forecasts for investors. The company expects to spend nearly $115 billion between 2025 and 2029. That’s $80 billion more than it forecast in the first quarter. As the chart shows, the startup—recently valued at $500 billion in a sale of employee shares—has been able to handily raise... Last week, I reported on how OpenAI updated its financial forecasts for investors. The company...

Mercor CEO Brendan Foody. Screenshot via YouTube/First Block.

Mercor Fields $10 Billion-Valuation Offers in ‘Pre-emptive’ Onslaught

By Katie Roof · Sep 4, 2025 4:15pm PDT

Mercor CEO Brendan Foody. Screenshot via YouTube/First Block.

Mercor Fields $10 Billion-Valuation Offers in ‘Pre-emptive’ Onslaught

By Katie Roof · Sep 4, 2025 4:15pm PDT

The frothiness of the artificial intelligence boom is starting to look like 1999…or 2021. Startups are again receiving unsolicited investment interest months or even weeks after announcing a fundraising, sometimes at prices that would more than double their valuation. The latest is Mercor, a startup that helps OpenAI and other AI developers find... The frothiness of the artificial intelligence boom is starting to look like 1999…or 2021....

Photo via Getty

Nvidia Buys Coding Startup as AI Deal Blitz Grows

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 2, 2025 4:37pm PDT · 1 comment

We’re in the midst of an M&A boom—for artificial intelligence startups. Among the latest: Nvidia last month bought Solver, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The three-year-old startup formerly known as Laredo Labs has developed an AI coding agent that completes software development tasks for users. The company... We’re in the midst of an M&A boom—for artificial intelligence startups. Among the...

Synthesia CEO Victor Riparbelli. Photo via Getty

The New European Startup Darlings

By Katie Roof · Aug 28, 2025 3:36pm PDT · 4 comments

Hi, it’s Katie Roof, spending my first week at The Information schmoozing with Europe’s startup leaders at a conference called TechBBQ in Copenhagen. It’s been close to three years since I’ve been at a tech conference on the Continent, and the difference is palpable. In 2022, there was a panic in the air about a stock sell-off that eventually... Hi, it’s Katie Roof, spending my first week at The Information schmoozing with Europe’s startup...

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas. Photo via Getty

The Founder Perk Showing Up in More VC Deals

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 26, 2025 4:10pm PDT

You’ll sometimes find signs of the times buried in companies’ bland corporate charters. The latest example: A growing number of startups that raised venture capital this year have issued a type of stock designed to make it easier for founders to sell some of their stakes.Nearly 11% of companies that raised money in the first half of the year... You’ll sometimes find signs of the times buried in companies’ bland corporate charters. The...

Photo by Getty.

Ex-OpenAI Staff Launch Fund as OpenAI ‘Mafia’ Spreads

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 4:17pm PDT

Photo by Getty.

Ex-OpenAI Staff Launch Fund as OpenAI ‘Mafia’ Spreads

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 4:17pm PDT

Over the last two years, several ex-OpenAI employees have left to found new startups. Now some former researchers at the ChatGPT maker are starting venture funds, extending a history of alums from buzzy startups who jump into investing. The latest example of this is Zero Shot Fund, started this summer by a group of former OpenAI employees... Over the last two years, several ex-OpenAI employees have left to found new startups. Now some...

Photo via Getty

What to Watch as the IPO Heat Turns Up

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT

Initial public offerings are generating buzz again, and share prices of tech listings have doubled on average this year. The Nasdaq has been at an all-time high, today’s big-tech stock sell-off notwithstanding. And Chamath Palihapitiya is raising money for a special purpose acquisition company. Are we about to hit a speculative IPO and SPAC... Initial public offerings are generating buzz again, and share prices of tech listings have...

Photo by AP.

Dry Powder Is Falling. SPVs May Be a Lifeline.

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 14, 2025 5:44pm PDT

Earlier this week, I published a look at the blitz of fundraising deals for artificial intelligence startups, often triggered by unsolicited term sheets. A few days later, my colleagues Sri, Erin and I reported on Perplexity’s talks to raise more money at a valuation of more than $20 billion, which, if it closes, would be its third fundraising... Earlier this week, I published a look at the blitz of fundraising deals for artificial...

Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. Image via Getty.

OpenAI Starts to Look Like Masa’s Savior

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 12, 2025 3:19pm PDT · 3 comments

SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has performed so terribly it seems like fiction. Yet SoftBank Group’s stock hit an all-time high on Tuesday. To followers of SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, none of this is surprising. Once again, he’s pulling a rabbit out of a hat, finding a blockbuster investment that overpowers his string of losers. The... SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has performed so terribly it seems like fiction. Yet SoftBank Group’s...

Illustration via Getty

AI Startups Emulate China’s Hardcore 9-9-6 Work Culture

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 7, 2025 3:35pm PDT · 1 comment

Illustration via Getty

AI Startups Emulate China’s Hardcore 9-9-6 Work Culture

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 7, 2025 3:35pm PDT · 1 comment

For a long time, U.S.-based founders and investors looked at China’s tech work culture—nicknamed 9-9-6 because employees work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week—as a grueling anomaly. But lately I’ve been hearing about employees at hard-charging artificial intelligence startups working even longer hours.The most vivid example came this week,... For a long time, U.S.-based founders and investors looked at China’s tech work culture—nicknamed...

Photo via Getty

Figma's Drunk Elephant in the Room

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 5, 2025 3:48pm PDT · 1 comment

Figma CEO Dylan Field knows people are going to stare at his stock price. “You can’t tell people, ‘Don‘t look at the elephant in the room.’ There’s an elephant in the room — it’s dancing, it’s drunk,” he said in a TV interview the day the company went public last week.But the 33-year-old will have to defy some history if he’s going to get Figma... Figma CEO Dylan Field knows people are going to stare at his stock price. “You can’t tell people,...

Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic. Photo by Getty

Anthropic Revenue Pace Nears $5 Billion in Run-Up to Mega Round

By Sri Muppidi · Jul 31, 2025 5:55pm PDT

This year’s torrid deal-making pace is definitely not taking a pause for summer. On Wednesday, I reported that OpenAI is months ahead of schedule in raising money for its $40 billion megaround. Investors are pouring in money at a moment when OpenAI is generating $12 billion in annualized revenue and hitting 700 million weekly active users... This year’s torrid deal-making pace is definitely not taking a pause for summer. On Wednesday, I...

Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi. Photo via Getty

Kraken’s $15 Billion Price Tag; Dylan Field’s Unusual Power

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 29, 2025 3:01pm PDT

The tech investment climate feels more like New York City (97 degrees) today than San Francisco (67 degrees). That is to say, it’s scorching hot and starting to get uncomfortable. The latest major startup deal I’m hearing about is crypto exchange Kraken seeking about $500 million, at a $15 billion valuation, according to people familiar... The tech investment climate feels more like New York City (97 degrees) today than San Francisco...

Art by Clark Miller; Gil screenshot via YouTube.

Elad Gil Plots $1.5 Billion Fund, Stretching Definition of a Solo GP

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 24, 2025 12:23pm PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller; Gil screenshot via YouTube.

Elad Gil Plots $1.5 Billion Fund, Stretching Definition of a Solo GP

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 24, 2025 12:23pm PDT · 1 comment

Venture capital firms are under pressure to make rapid-fire decisions about big checks in the frenzied world of artificial intelligence investing, straining partnerships that need a unified front. It helps sometimes to have just one decision-maker.That makes a case for Elad Gil, a prolific investor who made early investments in Perplexity,... Venture capital firms are under pressure to make rapid-fire decisions about big checks in the...

Armis co-founders Yevgeny Dibrov and Nadir Izrael. Photo via Armis

This Cybersecurity Startup Is the Latest to Try Recurring Tenders

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 22, 2025 1:37pm PDT

We’ve written a lot lately about the hefty stock packages companies like Meta Platforms, OpenAI and others are dishing out to recruit artificial intelligence researchers. Outside AI, many private company CEOs are also recalibrating how they use shares to keep and reward people. Take, for instance, Armis. The nine-year-old cybersecurity... We’ve written a lot lately about the hefty stock packages companies like Meta Platforms, OpenAI...

Martin Casado. Screenshot via YouTube/TechCrunch.

Andreessen Horowitz’s Casado Plays Talent Broker for Cursor

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 17, 2025 3:21pm PDT

Varun Mohan and Alexandr Wang. Photos via YouTube and AP. (edited)

Speed and Greed Test Silicon Valley

By Cory Weinberg and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 15, 2025 3:13pm PDT

The artificial intelligence dealmaking frenzy over the past few weeks is shifting Silicon Valley norms and creating wealth at a pace and scale we’ve never seen before. One theme is becoming clear: These AI deals are all about speed, and speed can make things messy. The latest example was Google co-founder Sergey Brin (suddenly relevant... The artificial intelligence dealmaking frenzy over the past few weeks is shifting Silicon Valley...

Sarah Smith. Photo courtesy of Sarah Smith Fund.

How One New Solo GP Is Using AI to Identify Promising Founders

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 10, 2025 3:36pm PDT · 8 comments

Sarah Smith. Photo courtesy of Sarah Smith Fund.

How One New Solo GP Is Using AI to Identify Promising Founders

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 10, 2025 3:36pm PDT · 8 comments

When former Bain Capital Ventures partner Sarah Smith raised a $16 million fund to back early-stage startups earlier this year, she decided to use artificial intelligence to answer a question that venture capitalists say usually comes down to human instinct: Which founders are worth meeting?The Menlo Park, Calif.–based investor developed a... When former Bain Capital Ventures partner Sarah Smith raised a $16 million fund to back...