Reka AI ranks 5th among global AI firms on valuation per employee basis

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CB Insights has launched a new ranking for the top 100 global private AI companies, and Reka AI has made the list.

The company is a creator of generative AI models and is the fifth-largest firm on a valuation per employee basis – right behind OpenAI.

While based in San Francisco, the company has two Southeast Asian founders. Singaporean Yi Tay is the company’s chief scientist, while CEO Dani Yogatama grew up in Indonesia.

According to CB Insights, Reka AI’s valuation per employee – its valuation divided by the number of team members it has – clocks in at US$42.9 million.

The market intelligence platform pegs Reka AI’s last known valuation at US$300 million, meaning that the company only employs seven people, four of whom are listed as executives.

OpenAI, which placed fourth, is valued at US$80 billion, which puts its valuation per employee at US$58.2 million.

Of the top 100 companies, about 68% are developing varied AI solutions, with industries ranging from virtual worlds and automatic factories to underrepresented language models.

Collectively, these firms have raised US$28 billion through 240+ equity deals since 2020. OpenAI, which has raised US$12 billion, is responsible for 40% of this sum.

Reka AI, meanwhile, has raised US$58 million so far, which came in June 2023 from a round led by DST Global and Radical Ventures.

Still, many firms on the list have raised even less capital: A quarter of the companies have banked less than US$10 million, while a few have not raised any venture capital at all. Nineteen companies are valued above US$1 billion.

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