AI
OpenAI
Develops AI models and products including ChatGPT, Codex, and an API platform used by individuals, developers, and organizations.
Feb 27, 2026 · Equity$110BNew investment announcement
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Discover companies, follow the steps to a public listing, and learn what to examine before considering a private investment.
The pre-IPO company directory
All 42 profiles42 companies
AI
Anthropic
Builds the Claude family of AI models and tools for coding, knowledge work, and enterprise applications, alongside research on AI safety.
Sep 2, 2025 · Equity$13BSeries F
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Cohere
Develops enterprise AI models, search capabilities, and the North platform for organizations seeking control over their data and AI deployments.
Sep 24, 2025 · Equity$100M additionalSecond close of financing
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Mistral AI
Develops open-weight AI models, enterprise AI software, coding tools, and computing infrastructure for customers seeking control over AI deployment.
Sep 8, 2026 · Equity€3BSeries D
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World Labs
Builds AI world models for spatial intelligence; its Marble product creates persistent 3D environments from images, video, or text.
Feb 18, 2026 · Equity$1BNew funding announcement
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Shield AI
Develops autonomous aircraft and Hivemind software designed to enable aircraft to operate in environments with disrupted communications or GPS.
Company researchBusiness & leadershipOriginal sources, analysis and questions
Get Shield AI alerts Selected public-source research. Company inclusion does not establish private status, share availability, an IPO date, or a relationship with this website.
Begin with the evidence
Can you trace every claim about the business, the seller, and a possible IPO back to an original source?
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE THESIS
Start with the founders.
OpenAI
Sam Altman
Co-founded OpenAI and previously led Y Combinator. His interviews connect AI research, product distribution, infrastructure spending and the organizational choices involved in scaling an AI company.
Explore founder
Anthropic
Dario Amodei
Dario Amodei is a co-founder of Anthropic. An AI researcher whose work helped shape the company’s emphasis on model capability, reliability and safety.
Explore founder
Cohere
Aidan Gomez
Aidan Gomez is a co-founder of Cohere. A co-author of the original Transformer research paper, with a focus on applying language models to enterprise work.
Explore founder
Mistral AI
Arthur Mensch
Co-founded Mistral after working in AI research at DeepMind. His background connects frontier models with open and enterprise deployment.
Explore founder
World Labs
Fei-Fei Li
Co-founded World Labs to build spatial intelligence. Her work in computer vision connects visual understanding with world models and physical environments.
Explore founder
Impulse Space
Tom Mueller
Founded Impulse Space after a career developing rocket propulsion. The company focuses on moving payloads after they reach space.
Explore founder
Stripe
Patrick Collison
Co-founded Stripe with his brother John. The business began with developer-friendly online payments and expanded into financial infrastructure.
Explore founder
Ramp
Eric Glyman
Eric Glyman is a co-founder of Ramp. Previously co-founded Paribus. Ramp combines financial products with tools designed to reduce administrative work.
Explore founderFROM FIRST QUESTION TO FIRST FILING
Understand what comes next.
Follow the process from private ownership to public reporting. Each guide includes original explanations, a practical checklist, and official sources.
01IPO basics
What an IPO actually means
Understand the change from private ownership to a public offering—and what that change does and does not tell you.
Read the guide02Going public
Three routes to the public market
Traditional IPOs, direct listings, and SPAC combinations reach public markets through different transactions.
Read the guide
03Going public
From preparation to first trade
Follow the major milestones without treating a filing, price range, or expected date as a completed IPO.
Read the guide04Research
Read an S-1 with a purpose
Find the company’s own disclosures and turn a long prospectus into focused research questions.
Read the guideTHE ROAD TO A PUBLIC LISTING
One milestone changes the market. It doesn’t remove the risk.
Explore the full IPO journeyPrivate company
Research the business, capital structure, and transfer restrictions.
Preparation & filings
Look for original company statements and public registration documents.
Pricing & listing
Understand allocation, dilution, and the difference between offer and market prices.
Life after the IPO
Follow reporting, earnings, lockup terms, and changing supply and demand.
MAKE YOUR RESEARCH MORE USEFUL
Discuss a company.
Tell us the company or topic you are exploring. Your inquiry is saved for the site team to review, with the context of where you started.
All company profiles and guides are free to read.
An inquiry does not reserve shares or establish eligibility.
THE QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK FIRST
Make the terminology clearer.
What does IPO stand for?+
Initial public offering: a company's first public offering of its shares. It often accompanies an exchange listing.
Does an IPO mean the company is profitable?+
No. Listing and profitability are different questions. Read the financial statements and the company's discussion of its results.
Has the SEC approved the investment?+
No. SEC review addresses disclosure requirements; it does not endorse an investment or judge whether it suits an investor.
Is every public debut a traditional IPO?+
No. Direct listings and SPAC business combinations use different mechanisms. Read the documents for the actual route.
Do direct listings raise money?+
They can. Some facilitate existing holders' sales; primary direct listings can also sell new company shares.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP