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Bessemer and Newcomer rank Anthropic first on the inaugural AI 100
Bessemer Venture Partners and Newcomer unveiled the inaugural AI 100 on 12 November 2026 in San Francisco, with Anthropic ranked first. Bessemer values the private-company list at US$3.6 trillion. Newcomer puts the collective valuation at about US$3.5 trillion.
Bessemer Venture Partners and Newcomer unveiled the inaugural AI 100 on 12 November 2026, on stage at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in San Francisco[1][2][3]. Bessemer calls it an annual ranking of the world's 100 most important private AI companies, published with Newcomer, and the successor to the Cloud 100, which it published each year from 2016 to 2025[1]. Newcomer describes the 100 as the private AI companies the two judged most promising[2][3].
Newcomer says it is fitting that Anthropic, ahead of its expected IPO next week, took first place[2][3]. The list site tags Anthropic "Most likely to go public" and calls that a hunch: Anthropic may IPO before any other company on the list, and it is impossible to know for sure[3].
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A scored ranking, not a revenue table
Bessemer scored companies on market leadership (35%), estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%) and people and culture (15%)[1]. Newcomer calls the method part art and part science: Bessemer weighed revenue, valuation and market share, with input from Newcomer, alongside people and culture. The list site describes the same factors[2][3]. The published order is that ranking. It is not a table sorted by revenue, and a higher valuation does not by itself mean a higher place.
The list shows the difference. Cognition is 6th at US$48 billion, Anduril is 7th at US$90 billion, and Ramp is 8th at US$60 billion. Prometheus is 33rd and tagged pre-revenue[3]. Bessemer says the list runs from companies with effectively no revenue to companies approaching US$100 billion in ARR, and that Anthropic went from its founding to roughly US$70 billion in annualised run rate in five years[1].
The list's figures are based on company data and PitchBook, and Bessemer fact-checked them[2][3]. An asterisk means the company did not validate the number[3]. In the top 10, that mark is on Stripe (US$159 billion), Waymo (US$126 billion) and ElevenLabs (US$22 billion). Anthropic (US$965 billion), OpenAI (US$852 billion) and Databricks (US$190 billion) are shown without it[3].
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Where the two totals differ
Bessemer values the 2026 list at US$3.6 trillion, all of it private, and more than three times the US$1.1 trillion 2025 Cloud 100[1]. Newcomer's essay and the list site both put the collective valuation at somewhere around US$3.5 trillion[2][3].
Bessemer puts the average company at US$36 billion, against US$11.2 billion in the 2025 Cloud 100, and the median at US$9.3 billion, against US$5 billion the year before[1]. The top 10 are Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, Stripe, Waymo, Cognition, Anduril, Ramp, Fireworks and ElevenLabs. Bessemer says they average US$250 billion each and account for 70% of the list's value[1].
Bessemer says 9% of the companies hold 55% of the value, and that frontier labs and foundation model builders represent US$1,974 billion[1]. Newcomer makes the same 9% and 55% point for researcher-heavy model companies, naming Anthropic, OpenAI and Thinking Machines at 21st[2]. The list names that 21st company Thinking Machines Lab, valued at US$12 billion[3].
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Growth, multiples and capital
Bessemer says the average ARR multiple is 57 times, above the Cloud 100's 2021 peak of 34 times, and the median is 23 times, against 20 times for the 2025 Cloud 100[1]. Average growth is 480% year on year, the top 10 average 306%, and the median is 275%[1].
Excluding Anthropic and OpenAI, Bessemer says the average company raised more than US$3.9 billion. It puts the median capital raised at US$1.09 billion across the AI 100[1]. Six companies have each raised more than US$10 billion: OpenAI at US$224 billion, Anthropic at US$130 billion, then Databricks, Waymo, Prometheus and Anduril. Bessemer says the two labs together have raised US$354 billion, about 80% of what those six have raised combined[1]. The list site shows other funding totals: US$126.80 billion for Anthropic and US$186.40 billion for OpenAI[3].
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Inference places, and two callouts
Newcomer names Fireworks 9th, Baseten 12th, Fal 16th and Modal 20th as inference companies that placed well, and says Baseten sits three places behind Fireworks[2]. The list ranks Fireworks 9th at US$17.5 billion, Baseten 11th at US$13 billion, Fal 16th at US$16 billion and Modal 20th at US$15.8 billion[3]. Bessemer also places Baseten 11th[1]. Newcomer and the list both rank Canva 12th, and the list values Canva at US$42 billion[2][3].
Newcomer calls Prometheus, at 33rd, the most speculative valuation: co-founded by Jeff Bezos, US$18.2 billion raised, a US$41 billion valuation, and no public product plans when the funding news broke in June[2]. The list shows US$41 billion and US$18.20 billion, marks both as not validated by the company, and tags Prometheus pre-revenue[3]. Newcomer calls Fal the hottest recent fundraise, a US$1.3 billion Series F at the beginning of November[2]. The list shows Fal's funding at US$2 billion[3].
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Why it matters
Bessemer sets the 2016 Cloud 100 at US$99 billion, the 2025 list at US$1.1 trillion and the AI 100 at US$3.6 trillion, and says that is 36 times in a decade[1].
The order is still a judgement. Market leadership carries the heaviest weight, and Newcomer says there will be plenty of opinions about who should have ranked higher, or who was left out[1][2]. Bessemer publishes US$3.6 trillion. Newcomer publishes somewhere around US$3.5 trillion[1][2][3].
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
01What is the AI 100?
Bessemer Venture Partners and Newcomer unveiled it on 12 November 2026 at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in San Francisco. Bessemer calls it an annual ranking of the world's 100 most important private AI companies, published with Newcomer, and the successor to the Cloud 100, which Bessemer published from 2016 to 2025. Newcomer describes the group as the private AI companies the two judged most promising.
02How were the companies scored?
Bessemer says the scores are market leadership 35%, estimated valuation 30%, operating metrics 20% and people and culture 15%. Newcomer calls the method part art and part science, with revenue, valuation and market share weighed alongside people and culture. The order is that ranking. A higher valuation does not by itself mean a higher place: on the list, Cognition is 6th at US$48 billion and Anduril is 7th at US$90 billion.
03Who is first, and what is the list worth?
Anthropic is first. Bessemer values the list at US$3.6 trillion. Newcomer puts the collective valuation at about US$3.5 trillion. The list site shows Anthropic at US$965 billion and OpenAI, in second, at US$852 billion. Bessemer says the top 10 average US$250 billion each and account for 70% of the list's value, and that the average company is valued at US$36 billion against US$11.2 billion for the 2025 Cloud 100.
04What does Newcomer say about an Anthropic IPO?
Newcomer says Anthropic took first place ahead of its expected IPO next week. The list site tags Anthropic most likely to go public, and calls that a hunch: Anthropic may IPO before any other company on the list, and it is impossible to know for sure. The pages do not give a price, a date or a ticker.
05Do Bessemer and the list site match on lab funding?
They publish different totals. Bessemer says OpenAI has raised US$224 billion and Anthropic US$130 billion, and that the two together have raised US$354 billion, about 80% of the capital raised by the six companies that have each raised more than US$10 billion. The list site shows funding of US$186.40 billion for OpenAI and US$126.80 billion for Anthropic.
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