AI Mega-Rounds: Funding, ARR Milestones, Secondaries — 2026-09-23
India's Brahma AI closed a $150 million round at a $2 billion valuation, while ex-Anthropic researchers' Mirendil is targeting a $1 billion raise at $5 billion. In secondaries, OpenAI's Forge mark sits at $721.85 per share as of September 23. Chinese lab Zhipu secured another ¥33.5 billion post-IPO, underscoring that listed AI companies are still raising private-style mega-rounds.
AI Mega-Rounds: Funding, ARR Milestones, Secondaries — 2026-09-23
Top developments
Brahma AI raises $150 million at a $2 billion valuation
Prime Focus-backed Brahma AI, an AI-native enterprise technology company focused on audiovisual content across media and entertainment, sports, healthcare, and advertising, has raised $150 million at a $2 billion valuation, Business Standard reported on September 23. The deal puts India squarely in the circle of AI companies graduating to billion-dollar-plus rounds weeks after closing.
Mirendil, founded by ex-Anthropic researchers, targets $1B at $5B
Mirendil, an AI startup founded by ex-Anthropic researchers, is targeting a $1 billion funding round at a $5 billion valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz, per Phemex News (September 23). A $5B valuation before a round closes would put the company among the fastest newly-created multi-billion AI valuations this year, and a joke-level footnote: it would eclipse several publicly listed AI names.
Zhipu raises another ¥33.5 billion after its Hong Kong IPO
Chinese outlet Huxiu reported about a week ago that Zhipu has raised an additional ¥33.5 billion, with the piece noting that post-IPO financing has become routine for AI companies. The article frames it against the ongoing valuation race among China's "AI six tigers" and DeepSeek — meaning Zhipu is effectively running private mega-rounds on top of a public listing.
Kimi lands on AWS Bedrock — revenue-share model goes live
On September 21, Moonshot AI's open-source Kimi K3 was added to Amazon Bedrock, letting global enterprise developers call the model directly, ChainCatcher reported, citing First Financial (Yicai). The previously rumored revenue-sharing arrangement between Kimi and overseas cloud providers has now formally landed — a meaningful commercial monetization milestone for a Chinese frontier lab without any disclosed funding round.
Venture money is leaving thin AI app layers for the physical stack
Tech Startups' September 21 roundup observes that the largest financings of the past 12 hours are no longer dominated by "thin AI application layers" but are flowing into weather modification, advanced nuclear power, domestic AI chips and electricity infrastructure, with Bain Capital Ventures, Dream Ventures and Morgan Stanley active. That shift matters for mega-round trackers: AI-adjacent hardware and energy deals are becoming the new home of nine-figure checks.
Local view
- Chinese media skepticism is growing around pure-model stories: Sohu ran a piece on September 22 asking whether MiniMax is "heading toward another story," noting the awkward middle ground between its global consumer apps (Talkie's 300M users, Hailuo AI video) and enterprise token sales.
- Huxiu's September 22 analysis argues that model strength is only an "entry ticket" for Moonshot AI (Kimi), which still "needs more lessons" — reflecting local pressure on China's AI labs to convert valuations into durable revenue.
- India's Business Standard is framing Brahma AI's raise as a milestone for the domestic ecosystem, given Prime Focus's backing and the multi-sector enterprise scope.
Context & numbers
- OpenAI's Forge Price — the derived secondary-market price for its private shares — stood at $721.85 per share as of September 23, 2026, per Forge Global.
- CB Insights counts AI at $225.8 billion — 48% of all venture funding, its largest recorded share — with OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI alone taking $86.3 billion (38%), per Second Talent's September-updated statistics aggregator.
- US investors participated in roughly 1,600 European VC transactions in H1 2026, matching UK investors, as AI and defense tech reshape who backs European startups — PitchBook data via Tech Funding News (September 23).
- Bloomberg reported September 20 that AI risk concentration is making diversification "an illusion" for pensions and sovereign wealth funds deploying billions.
On the radar
- OpenAI IPO timing: press reports circulating this week suggest Sam Altman told Fortune an IPO "right now" would be ill-advised, potentially pushing the most anticipated listing to 2027 or later — treat as reported commentary, not confirmed corporate guidance.
- Mirendil round close: whether the $1B/$5B round lands at or above target — Kleiner Perkins and a16z leading would be a signal for ex-frontier-lab founder premiums.
- China's Hong Kong-listed AI cohort: watch whether Zhipu's post-IPO raise pattern repeats for other mainland labs eyeing listings, as Huxiu flags the normalization of post-IPO secondary raises.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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