Dealmaker by The Information Staff

Two times/week

Dealmaker

By The Information Staff

Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.

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Recent Editions

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The Rise of the Pre-IPO Round

By Laura Mandaro · Jan 13, 2026 3:10pm PST

A favorite trade of 2020 and 2021—buying into a startup shortly before the company is expected to go public, often through the sale of notes convertible into equity—is bubbling again as more startups inch toward public listings. These convertible notes can act as a strong signal the company is intent on an IPO, well before it files a prospectus.... A favorite trade of 2020 and 2021—buying into a startup shortly before the company is expected to...

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

The Numbers Behind Snowflake’s $1 Billion App-Monitoring Acquisition

By Kevin McLaughlin and Valida Pau · Jan 8, 2026 4:52pm PST

On Thursday Snowflake said it was buying app monitoring startup Observe, confirming our earlier scoop. The sale, which we had previously reported would be roughly $1 billion, provides a decent exit for early investors in the nine-year-old startup, such as Sutter Hill Ventures and Madrona Ventures, both of which also previously backed Snowflake... On Thursday Snowflake said it was buying app monitoring startup Observe, confirming our earlier...

SailPoint CEO Mark McClain. Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How Private Equity Is Learning to Love AI

By Valida Pau · Jan 6, 2026 4:31pm PST

Happy 2026 and welcome back to Dealmaker! Private equity has long loved software companies, which generate gobs of steady cash flow from long-term customers. But that love affair has broken down because the firms eventually need to sell the companies they own, and right now almost no one wants to pay up for a traditional software maker.... Happy 2026 and welcome back to Dealmaker! Private equity has long loved software companies,...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Investors Look for Protection in Nvidia-Groq Type Deals

By Valida Pau · Dec 30, 2025 3:01pm PST

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Investors Look for Protection in Nvidia-Groq Type Deals

By Valida Pau · Dec 30, 2025 3:01pm PST

Welcome back! Nvidia’s Christmas Eve deal for Groq made for a happy holiday for the AI chip startup’s investors and employees, who were paid out at a very festive $20 billion valuation. That hasn’t always been the case for license-and-hire deals, where a buyer takes a startup’s technology and most of its staff, and leaves a stub of the... Welcome back! Nvidia’s Christmas Eve deal for Groq made for a happy holiday for the AI chip...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by Getty Images

Where Could OpenAI’s Next $100 Billion in Funding Come From?

By Katie Roof and Miles Kruppa · Dec 23, 2025 4:44pm PST

The eye-popping $100 billion of capital OpenAI wants in a new funding round has everyone wondering where that kind of cash might come from. The round would value the company at about $750 billion prior to the cash infusion, we’ve reported. U.S. financial investors—including big retail fund managers that back private startups—are likely to... The eye-popping $100 billion of capital OpenAI wants in a new funding round has everyone...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Big Idea That Drove a Strong Year in Tech Dealmaking

By Valida Pau · Dec 18, 2025 2:25pm PST

It’s a no-brainer these days to say AI is driving tech mergers. As I wrote earlier this month, big AI deals and a deal-friendly presidential administration have pushed the value of U.S. announced tech mergers to more than $543 billion this year, the highest level since 2021. To Morgan Stanley bankers, the deals this year and over the next... It’s a no-brainer these days to say AI is driving tech mergers. As I wrote earlier this month,...

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Waymo to Join the $100 Billion Club

By Katie Roof · Dec 16, 2025 4:45pm PST

The boom times for startup fundraising are likely to roll into the new year. As I scooped earlier Tuesday, self-driving car service Waymo is expected to raise billions of dollars at a $100 billion valuation, more than double its last valuation.It’s the latest sign that while public markets quake, private investors are still eager to put money... The boom times for startup fundraising are likely to roll into the new year. As I scooped earlier...

Tripplaar Kristoffer/SIPA via AP

The Private Credit Market’s New Target

By Miles Kruppa · Dec 11, 2025 2:53pm PST · 1 comment

Tripplaar Kristoffer/SIPA via AP

The Private Credit Market’s New Target

By Miles Kruppa · Dec 11, 2025 2:53pm PST · 1 comment

It’s not every day we write about debt in this newsletter, but tech investors are increasingly paying attention to credit as a growing source of funding for AI. One big question going into next year is whether lenders will have the stomach to continue backing massive data center projects.A recent debt offering from Blackstone-owned QTS, one of... It’s not every day we write about debt in this newsletter, but tech investors are increasingly...

VC Fundraising Just Can’t Keep Up

VC Fundraising Just Can’t Keep Up

By Katie Roof · Dec 9, 2025 4:17pm PST · 1 comment

The sky’s the limit for valuations for companies like SpaceX, but the venture firms writing the checks have less money in total to spend.Recent data from PitchBook shows how steep the decline in cash is. Fund managers raised $45.7 billion in new funds in the first nine months of the year. At that pace, fundraising is headed for the lowest level... The sky’s the limit for valuations for companies like SpaceX, but the venture firms writing the...

Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic. Getty Images.

When Will We See a $100 Billion-Valuation Startup Go Public?

By Katie Roof · Dec 4, 2025 3:28pm PST

For years, there has been speculation about when $100 billion-plus private tech companies like Stripe, SpaceX and Databricks could go public. Now AI darlings OpenAI and Anthropic are on IPO watch. Like every company that takes on significant venture capital, both companies have had early conversations with financial institutions about the... For years, there has been speculation about when $100 billion-plus private tech companies like...

Amit Zavery, president and chief product officer at ServiceNow. Getty Images.

ServiceNow’s $1 Billion-Plus Acquisition Aimed at Winning Agent War

By Valida Pau · Dec 2, 2025 3:10pm PST

Dealmakers apparently did not get much of a break over the Thanksgiving weekend, as a flurry of recent merger announcements showed. In just the last day, The Information broke the news that Marvell Technology was buying photonics startup Celestial for billions of dollars and Anthropic was making its first outright acquisition, for coding tools... Dealmakers apparently did not get much of a break over the Thanksgiving weekend, as a flurry of...

SpaceX flags fly as people wait on South Padre Island to watch the SpaceX Starship rocket launch from Starbase, Tex. in May. Getty Images. (edited)

‘Tis the Season for SpaceX Tenders

By Katie Roof · Nov 25, 2025 2:24pm PST

SpaceX flags fly as people wait on South Padre Island to watch the SpaceX Starship rocket launch from Starbase, Tex. in May. Getty Images. (edited)

‘Tis the Season for SpaceX Tenders

By Katie Roof · Nov 25, 2025 2:24pm PST

The holidays are coming up, which means it’s time for another surge in SpaceX share prices. The Elon Musk-founded company is planning to keep up its tradition of a twice-annual tender offer, with the new price expected to be set in December, according to multiple people familiar with the space giant’s plans. It was last valued at $400... The holidays are coming up, which means it’s time for another surge in SpaceX share prices. ...

Ivan Zhao, CEO of Notion, and Jane Dunlevie, chief operating officer of tech investment banking at Goldman Sachs

In Las Vegas, Kalshi Is King

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 20, 2025 3:43pm PST · 1 comment

For 15 years, Goldman Sachs’ private tech conference in Las Vegas has been the event for taking the pulse of startup dealmaking. Years ago, it was possible to run into founders such as Uber’s Travis Kalanick and Instagram’s Kevin Systrom raising money for their then-small startups. The conference is much bigger now (which makes some investors... For 15 years, Goldman Sachs’ private tech conference in Las Vegas has been the event for taking...

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Series Bubb-L

By Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · Nov 18, 2025 3:01pm PST

Sometimes being a centicorn isn’t enough…especially when you’re worried the AI bubble could burst. Shortly after Databricks said in September it had raised more than $1 billion at a valuation of more than $100 billion, leaders at the database software provider told investors they were likely to raise even more soon, our sources tell us.As ... Sometimes being a centicorn isn’t enough…especially when you’re worried the AI bubble could...

Elad Gil. Getty Images.

Elad Gil Doubles Fund Target to Nearly $3 Billion

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 13, 2025 3:35pm PST

Elad Gil, the venture capitalist who made early investments in Perplexity, Harvey, Stripe and Airbnb, has doubled the target size of his new fund to nearly $3 billion from $1.5 billion earlier this summer, according to a person with direct knowledge of the fundraise. If Gil succeeds in raising that much money, it would be the largest known fund... Elad Gil, the venture capitalist who made early investments in Perplexity, Harvey, Stripe and...

Photo by Getty Images

An End to the IPO Shutdown

By Katie Roof · Nov 11, 2025 3:26pm PST

Photo by Getty Images

An End to the IPO Shutdown

By Katie Roof · Nov 11, 2025 3:26pm PST

For the last 42 days, any startup seeking approval for an initial public offering from the Securities and Exchange Commission was in limbo, thanks to the government shutdown that had sent SEC staff home, preventing them from reviewing and approving IPO prospectuses.The securities agency could be back to work soon. Late Monday, the Senate passed... For the last 42 days, any startup seeking approval for an initial public offering from the...

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AI Stokes Battles for Series A; Altimeter to Raise New Growth Fund

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 6, 2025 1:43pm PST

I’ve been hearing a lot about how intense competition is for Series A investments lately. Investors that typically look to invest in more mature startups, say at the Series B or above rounds, are crowding into Series A rounds for fear of missing the next major winner.Like much else these days, artificial intelligence gets the credit (or blame)... I’ve been hearing a lot about how intense competition is for Series A investments lately....

Natasha Mascarenhas, Nina Achadjian and Leigh Marie Braswell at The Information's WTF Summit in October 2025. Photo by Erin Beach.

Four Venture Capitalists on How AI Has Disrupted Dealmaking

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 4, 2025 2:02pm PST

Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Roelof Botha, who has held the top role at Sequoia Capital for three years, announced he was handing the reins to two partners, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady. Botha, 52, took over Sequoia in 2022 just as tech stocks were plunging and VC firms including Sequoia were mopping up the excesses of... Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Roelof Botha, who has held the top role at...

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Photo by Getty.

Why OpenAI Is Likely to Tap Private Investors Again

By Sri Muppidi · Oct 30, 2025 4:55pm PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI this week restructured itself into a company with traditional equity, and it wasn’t long before rumblings about an initial public offering followed. There are plenty of reasons why an IPO listing may not happen until 2027 at the earliest, according to a person who has been involved in the discussion. Among them: It’s likely to be one of... OpenAI this week restructured itself into a company with traditional equity, and it wasn’t long...

Getty Images

Profit Pressure Spurs Chip Deals

By Valida Pau · Oct 28, 2025 12:41pm PDT

Getty Images

Profit Pressure Spurs Chip Deals

By Valida Pau · Oct 28, 2025 12:41pm PDT

Giant tech companies are wreaking havoc on chipmakers, outcompeting them or shifting to new suppliers, and that’s spurring a dealmaking spree in the industry. We broke news last night about the largest chip deal of the year, Skyworks Solutions buying rival chipmaker Qorvo for $10.6 billion. Both companies, which make radio frequency chips... Giant tech companies are wreaking havoc on chipmakers, outcompeting them or shifting to new...