Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved from a futuristic concept to a central pillar of global technology strategy. In 2025, some of the most valuable AI-focused unicorns—startups valued at over $1 billion—are preparing to tap public markets. These companies are capitalizing on strong investor interest in generative AI, machine learning infrastructure, and enterprise automation.
Here’s a look at the top AI unicorns that could go public in 2025, and why investors are watching them closely.
1. Databricks
Databricks, a leader in data and AI platforms, achieved a significant milestone in December 2024 by raising a monumental $10 billion in a Series J funding round, elevating its valuation to $62 billion. This round was led by Thrive Capital and saw participation from prominent investors including Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management.
The company reported over 60% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3 2024 and anticipates surpassing a $3 billion revenue run rate in the quarter ending January 2025. Additionally, Databricks expects to achieve positive free cash flow for the first time in this period.
The substantial capital infusion is earmarked for several strategic initiatives:
Employee Liquidity: Providing liquidity options for current and former employees.
AI Product Development: Accelerating the development of new AI products.
Acquisitions: Pursuing strategic acquisitions to enhance capabilities.
International Expansion: Expanding go-to-market operations globally.
Given its robust financial performance and strategic growth plans, Databricks is widely anticipated to consider an IPO in 2025. Such a move would position it as one of the most significant AI-focused public offerings in recent times.
2. Anthropic
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers Dario and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic has rapidly emerged as a leading force in the generative AI landscape. The company is best known for its Claude family of large language models, which are designed with a strong emphasis on safety and alignment, distinguishing them from competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
In March 2025, Anthropic secured a substantial $3.5 billion in a Series E funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing its post-money valuation to $61.5 billion. This round also saw participation from prominent investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco Investments, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, General Catalyst, Jane Street, Menlo Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures.
The company’s financial trajectory has been impressive. As of early 2025, Anthropic’s annualized revenue reached approximately $1.4 billion, up from $1 billion at the end of 2024. Projections suggest that the company could achieve between $2 billion and $4 billion in revenue by the end of 2025, reflecting the growing adoption of its AI solutions across various sectors.
Anthropic’s Claude models have gained significant traction, particularly in enterprise applications. The latest iteration, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, introduced in early 2025, has been lauded for its advanced coding capabilities and hybrid reasoning abilities, setting new benchmarks in the field.
Strategic partnerships have played a crucial role in Anthropic’s growth. Amazon’s total commitment to Anthropic reached $8 billion, solidifying a deep strategic partnership between the two companies, while Google’s investment in Anthropic exceeds $3 billion, including a $750 million convertible debt deal, to support Anthropic’s research and development efforts.
Despite its rapid ascent and substantial backing, Anthropic has not announced specific plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2025. However, given its robust financial performance, technological advancements, and strategic alliances, industry observers consider Anthropic a strong candidate for a future IPO, which would mark a significant milestone in the AI sector’s evolution.
3. CoreWeave
CoreWeave, a specialized cloud provider offering high-performance compute infrastructure tailored for AI and GPU workloads, transitioned from its origins in crypto mining to become a significant player in AI infrastructure. The company provides elastic compute resources that compete with major hyperscalers.
On March 28, 2025, CoreWeave went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CRWV, raising $1.5 billion in its IPO. The offering was scaled back from initial expectations, with shares priced at $40, below the anticipated range of $47 to $55. Despite this, the IPO marked the largest AI-related listing by amount raised to date.
In 2024, CoreWeave reported a revenue of $1.92 billion, a significant increase from $228.9 million in 2023. However, the company also reported a net loss of $863.4 million for the year.
A notable development preceding the IPO was CoreWeave’s $11.9 billion five-year contract with OpenAI, positioning the company as a key infrastructure provider for AI applications.
CoreWeave’s public debut reflects both the opportunities and challenges within the AI infrastructure sector, highlighting investor interest in companies that support the growing demand for AI computing power.
4. Hugging Face
Hugging Face, established in 2016, has become a cornerstone in the AI community, renowned for its open-source platform that hosts a vast array of machine learning models and datasets. With its widely adopted Transformers library, the company has positioned itself as a pivotal player in the development and deployment of natural language processing (NLP) applications.
In August 2023, Hugging Face secured a $235 million Series D-2 funding round, elevating its valuation to $4.5 billion. This round attracted investments from prominent tech giants, including Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, IBM, Qualcomm, and Salesforce, underscoring the industry’s confidence in Hugging Face’s mission to democratize AI through open-source initiatives.
In line with its expansion strategy, Hugging Face has ventured into the robotics domain. In April 2025, the company acquired French startup Pollen Robotics, marking its foray into AI-powered hardware. This acquisition led to the launch of Reachy 2, an open-source humanoid robot priced at $70,000, aimed at making personal AI robots more accessible. CEO Clément Delangue envisions a future where such robots become commonplace, predicting that at least 100,000 personal AI robots will be pre-ordered in 2025.
Despite its significant growth and influence in the AI sector, Hugging Face has not announced any immediate plans to go public. Analysts suggest that an IPO is unlikely in the near future, with the company potentially remaining private for the next few years, however, the timeline could accelerate in case the major AI startups or AI hardware platforms start going public.
5. Mistral AI
Founded in April 2023 by former researchers from DeepMind and Meta, Mistral AI has rapidly emerged as a prominent player in the generative AI landscape. The Paris-based startup focuses on developing high-performance open-weight language models, positioning itself as Europe’s answer to OpenAI and Anthropic.
Funding and Valuation
In June 2024, Mistral AI secured a substantial €600 million (approximately $640 million) in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst. This round also saw participation from notable investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Cisco Systems, and Nvidia. The funding elevated Mistral’s valuation to €5.8 billion ($6.2 billion), bringing its total funding to over €1 billion within just a year of its inception.
Product Offerings
Mistral AI is renowned for its commitment to open-source AI development. The company has released several models under open licenses, including Mistral 7B and Mixtral 8x7B, which have been well-received by the developer community. In February 2024, Mistral launched “Le Chat,” a multilingual conversational assistant designed to compete with offerings like ChatGPT. Additionally, the company introduced “Codestral,” a model dedicated to code generation, further expanding its suite of AI tools.
Strategic Partnerships
Mistral AI has established strategic partnerships to enhance its global reach. In February 2024, Microsoft invested $16 million in Mistral as part of a collaboration to integrate Mistral’s AI models into Microsoft’s Azure platform. This partnership aims to make Mistral’s models more accessible to a broader range of enterprises and developers.
IPO Prospects
While Mistral AI has experienced rapid growth, its IPO plans have seen mixed signals. In January 2025, CEO Arthur Mensch indicated that an IPO was part of the company’s future strategy, stating, “Of course, [an IPO is] the plan.” However, by March 2025, Mensch tempered expectations, emphasizing a renewed focus on open-source development and denying immediate IPO intentions.
Despite the ambiguity surrounding its public offering timeline, Mistral AI’s trajectory positions it as a pivotal player in the AI sector. Its dedication to open-source principles, combined with strategic partnerships and a robust funding foundation, underscores its potential to influence the future of AI development significantly.
Conclusion
2025 is shaping up to be a landmark year for AI IPOs, with unicorns across infrastructure, language models, and AI-native applications preparing to hit public markets. While not all of them may go public within the year, their activities suggest growing momentum and investor appetite.
As the AI race accelerates, these IPOs represent a rare chance for public investors to gain exposure to the technologies that will define the next decade. However, with hype also comes risk—investors must evaluate fundamentals, scalability, and governance before jumping in.