Anthropic's Early Investors See Billions in Paper Gains Ahead of IPO

Image: TechCrunch · Source

Anthropic's upcoming IPO, expected at up to a $2 trillion valuation, has already boosted paper values of early and late-stage investors into the tens of billions, according to recent reports.

Anthropic, the AI lab preparing for a public offering later this year, is generating significant returns on paper for its early and follow-on investors even before its IPO. The company’s valuation has soared to nearly $1 trillion in the private market, with some projections anticipating an IPO valuation as high as $2 trillion. This surge has turned stakes held by venture capital firms and individual backers into multibillion-dollar assets.

Coatue, an investment firm that first backed Anthropic in 2025 when it was valued at $183 billion, has invested approximately $4.75 billion. Based on the latest private valuation, this stake is now worth around $7.5 billion. Coatue has also co-led Anthropic’s last two funding rounds.

Other prominent backers include Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, who invested during Anthropic’s Series A in 2021 when the company was valued at $461 million. Schmidt currently holds about 1% ownership, with his stake worth nearly $10 billion at the current valuation.

Iconiq Capital made a substantial $6 billion investment last year when Anthropic was valued at $183 billion; that stake now stands at roughly $17 billion, nearly tripling its value with potential to grow further when Anthropic goes public.

Menlo Ventures, having led the Series D round and invested over $1 billion total, now holds a stake valued at approximately $14 billion. Sequoia Capital entered at a later stage this year with a $3 billion investment when Anthropic was valued at $380 billion, securing roughly 1% ownership that has already more than doubled in value.

Sound Ventures, founded by Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher, initially invested $35 million in the Series C round of 2023 and followed up with an additional $400 million infusion, yielding a stake now worth billions. Meanwhile, Spark Capital, which holds a board seat, invested $75 million in that same round at a $5 billion valuation; this stake’s value has skyrocketed more than ninetyfold to about $7 billion.

These investments underscore the rapidly increasing valuations in the AI sector, reflecting intense investor confidence in Anthropic’s potential. However, the exact terms of the IPO and the company’s public market performance remain to be seen.