E144: xAI launches Grok-2 and Grok-2 Mini on X platform, Klarna expands into banking with new products, Epic Games targets mobile market with new storefront, Ramp’s AI-powered growth drives $9.1B valuation, X projects $2B in 2024 ad revenue, Databricks ac

Send us Fan MailSubscribe to AG Dillon Pre-IPO Stock Research at agdillon.com/subscribe;- Wednesday = secondary market valuations, revenue multiples, performance, index fact sheets- Saturdays = pre-IPO news and insights, webinar replays00:07 | xAI Launches Grok-2 and Grok-2 Mini on X Platform- AI large language model platform business- Released Grok-2 and Grok-2 Mini beta LLMs on X platform- Enterprise API arriving later this month- Top-four position on LMSYS chatbot leaderboard- Grok-2 Mini: efficient, ideal for speed/resource-critical scenarios- Focus on expanding multimodal understanding- Available to Premium/Premium+ subscribers on X at $8/month- Secondary market valuation: $25.7B (+6.9% vs May 2024 round)02:11 | Klarna Expands into Banking with New Products- Payments and consumer lending business- Launched "Klarna balance" and "cashback" in 12 markets, including U.S. and Europe- Klarna balance offers up to 3.58% interest in EU, no interest in U.S.- Expansion to disrupt retail banking and increase customer loyalty- Tied to lending products, potentially reducing default rates- Secondary market valuation: $10.3B (+53.4% vs Jul 2022 round)- Rumored tender offer could precede IPO03:15 | Epic Games Targets Mobile Market with New Storefront- Virtual reality and video game tech company- Launching new mobile storefront, targeting 100M installs by year-end- Aims for significant share of $188B games market, 50% from mobile- 12% transaction fee vs. 30% from Apple/Google- Store to open to third-party developers in December- Secondary market valuation: $18.0B (-20.2% vs Feb 2024 round)04:21 | Ramp’s AI-Powered Growth Drives $9.1B Valuation- Fintech company founded in March 2019- Valued at $9.1B (secondary), +19.6% vs Apr 2024 round- Serving 25,000+ businesses, including Shopify and Boys and Girls Club of America- AI used for transaction categorization, bookkeeping, expense management- AI in sales and marketing boosts efficiency and profitability- Rapid growth with lean operational structure06:28 | X/Twitter Projects $2B in 2024 Ad Revenue- Projected $2B in 2024 ad revenue, down from $2.5B in 2023 and $4.5B in 2021- Focus on payments, video, and AI innovations- Plans for payments system with "Payments" button in navigation- X TV app launched on Amazon and Google platforms- Competing directly with YouTube's massive market share- Fidelity values X at $12.3B (-72% from Oct 2022 acquisition)08:45 | Databricks Acquires Tabular in $2B Deal- Analytics and AI company- Acquired Tabular for nearly $2B, despite $1M in annual recurring revenue- Tabular backed by $30M from Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Zetta Venture Partners- Acquisition driven by competition with Snowflake- Databricks' current valuation: $42.7B (secondary), -1.2% vs Nov 2023 round- Snowflake's struggles compounded by a data breach affecting AT&T customers09:49 | Hadrian Acquires Datum Source to Enhance Defense Capabilities- Defense tech company- Raised $220M since 2020, valued at $500M (secondary)- Acquired Datum Source, valued at $30M, to better serve defense startups- Acquisition brings 30 new customers, Datum's 14-person team- Part of a broader trend of acquisitions in defense tech, with $129.3B VC invested since 202110:50 | Pre-IPO Stock Market Weekly Performance- agdillon.com/subscribe to receive weekly pdf report in your inbox11:38 | Pre-IPO Stock Vintage Index Weekly Performance- agdillon.com/subscribe to receive weekly pdf report in your inbox