The editor of Downcodes learned that the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures disclosed through a regulatory filing that it has invested US$405 million in OpenAI. The investment raises concerns about Khosla Ventures’ stake in OpenAI’s latest $6.6 billion funding round. According to the filing, Khosla Ventures holds at least a 6% stake in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. But this does not mean that Khosla Ventures directly invested this huge sum of money, but may pool funds from other investors through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). This method is more effective when the investment company lacks funds or already holds enough shares. common.
Recently, Khosla Ventures disclosed through a regulatory filing that it raised $405 million in funding for OpenAI. The emergence of this funding has people wondering how much of Khosla’s share of this round of financing. According to the filing, Khosla Ventures’ stake in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, appears to be at least 6%, based on the $6.6 billion OpenAI just completed.
Picture source note: The picture is generated by AI, and the picture authorization service provider Midjourney
However, it is worth noting that this does not mean that Khosla Ventures invested a lot of money in this round of financing, and may not even invest a penny. Because most, if not all, of the $405 million was funneled from other investors through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). SPVs are typically used when the investing company doesn't have enough money to fill a financing round, or when the investing company already has enough exposure in a company and is offering its shares to others eager to invest.
As for the terms of Khosla Ventures' participation in OpenAI's last round of funding, they did not disclose any information, so we cannot clearly understand their specific investment conditions.
It is worth mentioning that OpenAI’s valuation in this round of financing is as high as US$157 billion, which seems to be a good opportunity for Khosla Ventures.
Looking back at 2019, Khosla Ventures invested US$50 million in OpenAI, and at that time they held about 5% of the shares. Although the valuation of OpenAI was not made public at the time, it is reasonable to speculate that the valuation at that time was much lower than the US$29 billion valuation that OpenAI reached in 2023, which was achieved due to Microsoft's investment of US$10 billion.
Highlight:
Khosla Ventures raised $405 million from OpenAI through SPV.
? Khosla’s shareholding ratio in OpenAI’s latest round of financing is at least 6%.
OpenAI was valued at US$157 billion in recent financing, and Khosla invested US$50 million in 2019.
All in all, Khosla Ventures’ investment strategy in OpenAI is worthy of attention. Its participation in financing through SPV also reflects certain characteristics of the current investment market. OpenAI’s high valuation also indicates its leading position and huge potential in the field of artificial intelligence. The editor of Downcodes will continue to pay attention to the subsequent development of OpenAI.