Glean gets a $4.6B price tag as AI valuation growth continues to spike
Plus: PE growth deals outpace LBOs, and the next-gen drugs challenging weight-loss giants
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Glean, an AI-powered enterprise search startup, doubled its valuation to $4.6 billion just seven months after its last round, underscoring the rapid valuation growth of AI companies in today’s market. Glean isn't alone: Valuations are exploding, especially at the early stages.
The startup’s $260 million Series E was co-led by Altimeter and DST Global with backing from SoftBank’s Vision Fund II, writes PitchBook's Jacob Robbins. In February, Glean was valued at $2.2 billion in a $200 million Series D led by Kleiner Perkins and Lightspeed.
Glean’s AI work platform can search for information across an organization’s and content, as well as answer questions through a generative AI chatbot. The company was founded in 2019 by Arvind Jain, co-founder of cybersecurity company Rubrik, which went public in April.
AI valuations have handily outpaced other verticals: In Q2, the median early-stage AI valuation was $65 million and $119 million at the late-stage. More than 40% of all new unicorns this year have been AI startups.
PE growth deals outpace LBOs in a break from longtime trend
In the first half of 2024, PE growth investments surged, surpassing leveraged buyouts in deal share, as larger firms more took minority stakes in companies.
PitchBook's Q2 2024 US PE Breakdown finds PE growth investments were on the rise in the first half of 2024, accounting for nearly 23% of all PE deals and outnumbering leveraged buyouts, which made up more than 19%. That reverses the longtime pattern.
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PE growth's share of today deal count moves past that of LBOs
These upstarts are challenging weight-loss goliaths
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are likely to maintain their first-mover advantage in the rapidly growing weight-loss drug category. Still, a new report by Morningstar and PitchBook analysts predicts that, by 2031, newcomers will command $70 billion of the GLP-1 market.
Next-generation obesity drugs are coming from Roche, Amgen, Pfizer and others. Drugmakers may press their advantage with acquisitions of privately held companies like Arch Venture Partners-backed Metsera or Bain Capital-backed Hercules.
The report shines a light on what new entrants mean for a lucrative category that will face increased competition and pricing pressure in the years ahead.