Anthropic PBC has secured at least $1 billion in its latest funding round from investors including Coatue Management, Singapore's GIC, and Iconiq Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. This signals a surge of investor enthusiasm, driven by soaring revenues at the AI startup.
Anthropic's revenue run rate has more than doubled since last summer and is projected to exceed $9 billion by the end of 2025. The company's revenue run rate, which is an indicator of projected annual revenue based on a shorter period, stood at $4 billion last July.
The deal has been met with strong demand, with backers having committed funds that exceed the company's previous target of raising $10 billion from investment firms, according to multiple sources. When combined with the $15 billion previously committed by NVIDIA and Microsoft, the total funding raised is likely to easily surpass $20 billion, some of the people added.
A list of investors for this round is beginning to take shape. Lead investors Coatue Management and GIC are each expected to invest approximately $1.5 billion, the people said. Iconiq Capital is also poised to be a major investor, planning to commit $1 billion or more. Iconiq led Anthropic's previous funding round last September, when the valuation was about half of the potential new valuation.
Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, and Sequoia Capital are also expected to participate in this round, according to the sources.
Anthropic's AI tool, Claude, has become a preferred choice for enterprises and developers for coding and performing other tasks. The startup stated that the new version, Claude Sonnet 4.5, released in September, is more adept at following instructions and can code autonomously for up to 30 hours continuously.
The service can also utilize a user's computer to perform operations, an enhancement of a feature Anthropic introduced a year ago that helps propel AI toward greater autonomy.
Microsoft (MSFT.US) and NVIDIA (NVDA.US) had previously announced significant investments in Anthropic. These strategic investments from the two tech giants will further intensify the growing number of partnerships between AI developers and cloud computing or chip suppliers.
These partnerships have caused discontent among some potential investors. Industry observers and rating agencies are closely monitoring the rise of so-called "AI deal loops," where suppliers are also investors in the companies.
Beyond leveraging the investments from Microsoft and NVIDIA, Anthropic itself is a customer of both companies. The flurry of M&A activity surrounding the AI industry indicates that the costs of developing and supporting AI tools are skyrocketing.
One estimate suggests that spending on data centers alone could exceed $3 trillion over the next five years. Anthropic plans to make substantial investments in AI infrastructure and has committed to investing $50 billion in data center construction in the United States.
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