SpaceX Seeks Early Inclusion in Major Stock Indexes for IPO
Elon Musk's SpaceX is reportedly seeking early inclusion in major stock indexes to boost liquidity for its planned IPO. Meanwhile, Cerebras Systems – The company announced the closing of a $1B Series H financing at a post-money valuation of approximately $23B.This week's private company news:Private sector investment in Japanese chipmaker Rapidus is expected to exceed $1.02B for fiscal 2025, surpassing the planned amount for the year, as IBMappears set to join Japanese companies like SoftBankand Sonyin backing the manufacturer, Nikkei Asia.Elon Musk's SpaceX is seeking early inclusion in major stock indexes to boost liquidity for its planned IPO, The Wall Street Journal's Kate Clark and Corrie Driebusch. Advisers for the company, which recently merged with xAI, have reached out to major index providers, including Nasdaq, to discuss how SpaceX and this year's other hot startups might join key indexes sooner than normal, according to people familiar with the matter.This comes after Elon Muskin a statement that SpaceX acquired xAI, combining two companies he founded. Musk said, "SpaceX has acquired xAI to form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world's foremost real-time information and free speech platform. This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI's mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars! Current advances in AI are dependent on large terrestrial data centers, which require immense amounts of power and cooling. Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions, even in the near term, without imposing hardship on communities and the environment...My estimate is that within 2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space. This cost-efficiency alone will enable innovative companies to forge ahead in training their AI models and processing data at unprecedented speeds and scales, accelerating breakthroughs in our understanding of physics and invention of technologies to benefit humanity." Shares of Tesla, where Musk is CEO, are little changed in after-hours trading at $422.70.Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:Cerebras Systems– The company announced the closing of a $1B Series H financing at a post-money valuation of approximately $23B. The round was led by Tiger Global, with participation from Benchmark, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Atreides Management, Alpha Wave Global, Altimeter, AMD, Coatue, and 1789 Capital, among others. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nvidia, AMDand Intel.Skyryse– The aviation automation and simplified flight controls company announced that it successfully raised over $300M in a new Series C investment to drive continued growth and scaling, bringing its valuation to more than $1B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Honeywell, Garmin, and L3Harris Technologies.Bedrock Robotics– The autonomous construction technology company said it has raised $270M in Series B funding. The round was co-led by CapitalG and the Valor Atreides AI Fund, with participation from Xora, 8VC, Eclipse, Emergence Capital, Perry Creek Capital, NVentures, Tishman Speyer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgian, Incharge Capital, C4 Ventures, and others. Publicly traded companies in the space include Rockwell Automation, Teradyne, and Zebra Technologies.Fundamental– The AI company behind Large Tabular Model that drives predictions from enterprise data said it raised a $30M Seed round and a $225M Series A round led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from top tier venture capital firms including Valor Equity Partners, Battery Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Hetz Ventures. Incharge Capital, C4 Ventures, and others. Publicly traded companies in the space include UiPath, ServiceNow, and Salesforce.Lunar Energy– The integrated home battery systems and Virtual Power Plant software company announced it raised $102M in an oversubscribed Series D round led by B Capital and Prelude Ventures. Publicly traded companies in the space include Enphase, SolarEdge, and Generac.Unicorns to watch this week:Teamworks– The sports management SaaS platform funded by a former Duke football player has recently expanded its product suite aggressively and has been active in M&A and league partnerships. Publicly traded peers include Genius Sports.Figure AI– The humanoid robots startup is seeing major partnership momentum with OpenAI collaboration and BMW pilot. Publicly traded companies in the space include Tesla, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft.Claroty– The industrial cybersecurity company specializes in protecting cyber-physical systems, CPS, across sectors such as energy, manufacturing, healthcare, and public infrastructure. The company is a category leader and has recently seen product expansions and federal-sector traction. Publicly traded companies in the space include Fortinet, CrowdStrike, Zscaler, Oktaand Cloudflare.Safe Superintelligence– Operating in the AI sector, Safe Superintelligence continues to be a narrative driver in the "AI safety vs. capabilities" debate. Publicly traded companies in the space include Alphabet.Fanatics– Operating in the e-commerce/sports apparel sector, Fanatics is one of the most closely watched pre-IPO companies in the U.S. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nike, Dick's Sporting, and Amazon.IPOs to watch:OpenAI– The company is accelerating its plans for a public listing as rivalry with Anthropic intensifies, now planning on listing in Q4 of this year, Berber Jin, Corrie Driebusch, and Kate Clark of The Wall Street Journal. OpenAI is holding discussions with Wall Street banks about a potential initial public offering and has hired several executives to oversee its finance team, sources told the Journal.SpaceX- Elon Musk is targeting mid-June for the timing of SpaceX's initial public offering, IPO, Ivan Levingston, Stephen Morris, and Mercedes Ruehl of The Financial Times, citing five people familiar with the matter. The company is looking to raise $50B at a valuation of $1.5T, the sources added.Jersey Mike's– The company has tapped Morgan Stanleyand JPMorgan Chasefor public listing, Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschultz and Preeti Singh report, citing people familiar with the matter. The Blackstone-backedsandwich chain is aiming to complete a first-time share sale as soon as Q3 of 2026, the authors say.Copper– The crypto custody company is in early talks about a public listing, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, CoinDesk's Will Canny writes. Goldman Sachs, Citiand Deutsche Bankare among the investment banks potentially involved, according to one source. The decision on whether to pursue a listing will hinge on the company's near-term revenue performance, a second person said.Speed Group– The company filed a prospectus for 2.5M share initial public offering. It expects the IPO price to be in the range of $4.00 to $5.00 per. The company's operating subsidiary, Speed Logistics, is an e-commerce logistics provider providing end-to-end logistics solution in Hong Kong, Europe and North America. The services include warehousing, customs clearance, air transportation, and final delivery from the European airports. For the years ended June 30, 2024 and 2025, Speed's revenues were $17.9M and $22.64M, respectively.Lendbuzz Inc.– The company is offering an undetermined number of shares of its common stock and the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering additional shares of common stock, according to an initial public offering prospectus filed with the SEC. The company has applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "LBZZ.""Private Markets" is The Fly's recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.
