If There Are 'Mag Seven' for Unlisted Companies, Who Will Make The List?

Forge Global, a giant in the field of equity trading for unlisted companies, announced on Wednesday a list of Magnificent Seven from the non-public market, which includes well-known startups that have attracted a large number of transactions on their platform.The seven companies are SpaceX, OpenAI, Scale AI, Databricks, Fanatics, Stripe, and Rippling.

Undoubtedly, among the aforementioned unlisted Magnificent Seven, people are already familiar with Elon Musk's SpaceX and the pioneer in the AIGC field, OpenAI. The other five companies may be relatively unfamiliar.

According to public information, Scale AI is a unicorn in the field of artificial intelligence data annotation in the United States. Founded in 2016, the company initially provided AI data annotation outsourcing services and later expanded into an enterprise-level data integrator, assisting clients with AI development and deployment. By combining the power of humans and automation, Scale AI can accelerate the development of AI projects and help various industries improve data processing efficiency.

 

Databricks is a leading company in global big data analysis, focusing on an open-source platform for data science and machine learning. According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, the global big data analysis market is expected to reach $549.73 billion by 2028. As a leader in the Lakehouse, Databricks' valuation has exceeded $43 billion.

Meanwhile, Fanatics is the world's largest licensed sports merchandise retailer. It provides personalized shopping experiences for users by deeply integrating brands and fan experiences. Fanatics has also cooperated with major sports leagues and has become a leader in the global sports goods field.

Stripe is an online payment processing company that provides simple and powerful tools to help businesses easily receive and manage online payments. Its API allows developers to quickly integrate payment functions and supports a variety of global payment methods, making it the preferred choice for many startups and large enterprises.

Rippling is a human resources and payroll management platform dedicated to simplifying the employee management process for businesses. It integrates HR, IT, and financial systems, enabling companies to efficiently manage employee onboarding, benefits, payroll, and equipment allocation.

Forge Global stated that the overall valuation increase of these seven unlisted companies in the past year has outperformed the Magnificent Seven in the U.S. stock market - that is, Tesla, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google's parent company Alphabet.

Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge Global, said, "While the post-2021 market downturn was undoubtedly a challenging period for the private market, Private Magnificent 7 proved resilient, Forge believes these companies reflect the current and emerging themes of private investing and are driving the secular growth of the U.S. innovation economy.

According to statistics from Forge Global, the total valuation of the aforementioned non-public market Magnificent Seven is currently about $473 billion, which is only one-thirtieth of the U.S. stock market Magnificent Seven for the time being. However, this scale is still not to be underestimated. It is important to know that the total market value of the U.S. stock market Magnificent Seven is now equivalent to the combined stock markets of Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Forge Global stated, Though smaller in size, the Private Magnificent 7 has outperformed its public market counterpart by 16.9% in the 12-month period ending August 31, 2024. The select group's price performance rose 55.3%, and in comparison, the public Magnificent 7 rose 38.4% in the same period.

Statistics show that during this period, the valuation of the non-public market Magnificent Seven climbed by 55.3%, exceeding the 38.4% market value increase of the U.S. stock market Magnificent Seven during the same period.

Judging from the current situation, these seven companies do not seem to be in a hurry to go public. Forge Global stated that although companies like Stripe have always been the subject of IPO speculation, they still have various ways to raise funds in the private market.

Forge Global currently operates the world's leading private market trading and data intelligence platform. This includes Forge Price, a proprietary pricing model for about 250 late-stage venture-backed companies with market liquidity in transactions. Forge Price is also the basis for determining the statistical method for the aforementioned unlisted Magnificent Seven.