The idiom \u201cfeeding frenzy\u201d gained prominence in the mid-century, first primarily to describe the behavior of sharks frenetically ripping into large schools of fish. It\u2019s chaotic, ruthless, and triggered by the perception of abundance. And I suspect the phrase gained popularity both because it\u2019s evocative, and because there\u2019s more than one kind of shark out there. And right now, quite a few sharks are circling the secondaries market around Anthropic, which is widely expected to go public this year (as is rival OpenAI).\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve missed the ruckus: Anthropic, the maker of Claude and last publicly valued at a now-quaint $380 billion, is raising a new round of funding\u2014the company\u2019s reportedly looking to rake in as much as $50 billion at a valuation in the $900 billion ballpark. And talking to brokers, investors, and founders about it, they all had the same, clear message: This is not normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnthropic has all this clumped-up, pent-up demand, and it\u2019s like a pressure cooker ready to explode,\u201d said Hari Raghavan, an angel investor and founder who\u2019s currently starting a new fund with longtime private capital markets executive Clara Vydyanath. \u201cIf you have pent-up demand and a lack of clean paths you can use to vent the exhaust, what happens is that the whole thing blows up.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the demand for Anthropic is explosive, four industry insiders agreed. At the start of this decade, Anthropic didn\u2019t exist, and this year, the company\u2019s ostensibly set to take in $45 billion. This reported (and eye-watering) figure appears to be annualized revenue run rate, which is definitionally dicey\u2014it\u2019s a snapshot-estimate of where revenue will land if recent pace holds. That number isn\u2019t reality, not yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But reality isn\u2019t the driving force around the tidal wave of demand for Anthropic shares. It all started in late April, when Anthropic put out a call for investor allocations: The message? You want a block of Anthropic shares, you have 48 hours to submit the size of your offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The result: a market so frothy people are willing to wire hundreds of thousands of dollars to a broker, without verifying if the shares they\u2019re buying are even real. Read my full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n Have a great long weekend and we\u2019ll see you Tuesday,<\/p>\n Allie Garfinkle Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n VENTURE CAPITAL<\/p>\n – Farther<\/a>, a New York City-based digital wealth management platform for financial advisors, raised $150 million in Series D funding. General Atlantic led the round and was joined by existing investors.<\/p>\n – Pivot<\/a>, a Paris, France-based AI-powered procurement management platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Notion Capital and Forestay led the round and were joined by Greyhound Capital and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n – REPS<\/a>, a Tyrol, Austria-based developer of road-embedded technology that harvests energy from vehicle traffic, raised $23.6 million in funding from undisclosed investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n – The Path<\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered virtual wardrobe and personal styling platform, raised $14.3 million in seed funding. Prime Movers Lab led the round and was joined by Apolo Anton Ohno, Deontay Wilder, Designer Fund, and others.<\/p>\n – V\u00eatir<\/a>, a New York City-based AI-powered luxury wardrobe platform, raised $5.5 million in Series A funding from Laidlaw & Company and others.<\/p>\n – Shatterdome Energy<\/a>, a Dover, Del.-based AI-powered battery storage and energy trading platform, raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding. Crucible Capital led the round.<\/p>\n PRIVATE EQUITY<\/p>\n – Accel-KKR acquired a majority stake in UpKeep<\/a>, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based AI-powered maintenance management (CMMS) and asset operations platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – Advantage Distribution Holdings, backed by Tigertail Capital Partners, acquired cfm Distributors<\/a>, a Kansas City, Mo.-based HVACR distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – Bregal Sagemount and Ardian acquired a majority stake in Ennov<\/a>, a Paris, France-based provider of regulatory and quality management software for life sciences companies. Financial terms were not disclosed.\u00a0<\/p>\n EXITS<\/p>\n – Corten Capital acquired Beacon Intelligence<\/a>, a London, U.K.-based data and workflow platform for life sciences R&D, from Graphite Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n OTHERS<\/p>\n – Analog Devices agreed to acquire Empower Semiconductor<\/a>, a Milpitas, Calif.-based power delivery company for AI, for $1.5 billion in cash.<\/p>\n PEOPLE<\/p>\n
X: @agarfinks<\/a>
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n