Jacob E. Robbins

Seattle

VC/Startups reporter @pitchbook. Formerly Tech Reporting @bitech. Formerly @AirMailWeekly and assistant to @graydoncarter. Terrible speller. Even worse parker.

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Articles

Plaid valuation slashed 54% with $575M down round

2 weeks ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

Plaid, the fintech giant that connects banks to financial apps, is the latest startup to raise a down round after securing $575 million in new funding that slashes its valuation in half, to $6.1 billion. Down and flat rounds have been on the rise, reaching their highest shares of US VC deal count in a decade, according to PitchBook’s 2024 US VC Valuations report.
OpenAI shatters venture records with a $40 billion funding round at a $300 billion valuation

3 weeks ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

It’s the largest venture capital deal. Ever. That is, OpenAI’s newly-announced $40 billion funding round—mostly from SoftBank—that nearly doubles its valuation to $300 billion. And it’s the surest sign yet that generative AI’s momentum only continues to grow. The ChatGPT maker has leapfrogged TikTok-maker ByteDance in PitchBook’s rankings of the most valuable VC-backed companies, second only now to Elon Musk’s SpaceX at a $350 billion valuation.
CoreWeave's IPO got a lukewarm reception despite AI excitement

3 weeks ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

CoreWeave, one of the most hotly anticipated public debuts of the year, closed out its first day of trading on the Nasdaq at $40 per share after opening at $39. It was supposed to be AI’s first blockbuster IPO, but not even buzzy technology can shield fast-growing companies from market volatility and worrying financials. The company initially planned to price at $47 to $55 a share, and ultimately sold fewer shares than anticipated, raising $1.5 billion instead of a potential $2.7 billion.
StubHub Punches Ticket for an IPO

1 month ago | morningstar.com | Jacob E. Robbins

This article was originally published by PitchBook. Online ticketing marketplace StubHub has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “STUB.”StubHub has long flirted with going public. In 2022, it confidentially filed documents for a direct listing, and again last summer it considered an IPO, though it folded its plans following a controversial rollout of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
AI agents take center stage at HumanX conference

1 month ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

As investors, founders, executives and everyone in between roamed around the Fountainebleau on the Las Vegas Strip to discuss AI’s future during the first annual HumanX conference, AI agents were undeniably the center of attention. “This shift to agents is going to define 2025,” said Kevin Weil, chief product officer at OpenAI, during one of the keynote talks.
AI cloud computing company CoreWeave files for IPO

1 month ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

CoreWeave, one of the hottest AI cloud computing startups, has filed to go public on the Nasdaq, according to a new regulatory filing. The company is kicking off what many hope will be a rebound of the IPO market for venture-backed companies. The New Jersey-based company rents out access to graphical processing units through the cloud. In 2024, it grew its revenue to $1.9 billion, up roughly 730% year over year from $229 million.
AI boom sparks investor frenzy for robotics startups

2 months ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

AI is driving up venture interest in robotics, propelling the sector forward and fueling a burgeoning ecosystem beyond hardware. Last year, investors poured $6.1 billion of VC dollars into robotics, up 19% from 2023, according to PitchBook data. And the energy isn’t stopping: Just last week, Texas-based Apptronik, a robotics hardware and software maker, announced $350 million in Series A funding.
Harrison.ai raises $112M as AI continues healthtech jolt

2 months ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

Harrison.ai, an Australian healthcare startup developing its own proprietary large language models, has raised $112 million in Series C funding led by Aware Super, ECP and Horizons Ventures. The new capital comes amid a bump in mega-rounds for AI healthcare startups and an overall increase in funding for healthtech companies. It reached $31.6 billion in 2024, up from $30.5 billion, according to PitchBook data. Harrison.ai’s large language model helps radiologists interpret exams and test results.
Trump's latest move to save TikTok: Start a sovereign wealth fund

2 months ago | pitchbook.com | Jessica Hamlin |Jacob E. Robbins

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing his administration to begin the process of creating a US sovereign wealth and suggested it be used to finance a deal to keep TikTok operating in the US. The order called for the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to produce a plan within 90 days. That plan will have details on how the SWF will be financed as well as its structure and strategy.
Emerging managers close fewer funds than experienced manager for first time in a decade

2 months ago | pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins

Beta Boom GP Sergio Paluch saw his fundraising efforts go from oversubscribed to nearly dead in 2023, making him just one of many emerging managers with this story. And the data now confirms the anecdotes: For the first time in a decade, experienced managers closed more funds than emerging managers, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Report.