A New Record
The Prime Unicorn Index closed at 314.08 on August 12, a new all-time high. The record breaks the previous mark of 311.26, set just eight days earlier on August 4. The Index has now climbed for two straight weeks, even as its largest component pulled back in between.
Four companies drove most of the move: Anthropic, Cerebras Systems, SpaceX, and ClickHouse. Each posted double-digit gains over the past two weeks, and each had a distinct story behind it.
Anthropic’s Secondary Sets the Pace
Anthropic led the way, up 57% over the two-week period. A recent secondary transaction priced shares at $925, more than 50% above the company’s prior mark. The move came weeks after Anthropic’s $65 billion Series H valued the company at $965 billion, and just ahead of its confidential IPO filing on June 1. The secondary suggests investor demand has kept building well past what that last primary round captured.
Cerebras and SpaceX Add to the Gains
Cerebras Systems climbed 54.7%, extending a rally it built ahead of its second-quarter earnings report on August 12. Mizuho raised its price target to $310 before the print, pointing to a new partnership with AMD on AI inference. Cerebras also disclosed 600 megawatts of data center capacity under contract and confirmed OpenAI as a launch partner. The move reflects anticipation heading into earnings, not a reaction to the results themselves.
SpaceX added 29.9%, recovering from an insider lockup expiration on August 6. Wall Street had braced for a wave of selling once early investors were cleared to sell shares. Instead, the stock rallied 23% to 26% over the following days. A strong second quarter helped fuel the move, with revenue up 92% year over year and Starlink topping 12 million subscribers. SpaceX closed August 12 at $146.15, back above its $135 IPO price for the first time in weeks.
ClickHouse Catches Up
ClickHouse rounded out the group with a 41.2% gain. The company’s official Series D priced it at $15 billion back in January. By May, ClickHouse had tripled its annualized revenue to $250 million, supporting a private valuation closer to $16 billion. This month’s re-pricing in the Index looks like it finally caught up to that higher mark, rather than reflecting brand-new news.
Beyond the Top 30
Three companies outside the Index’s current constituents also posted notable gains. Lila Sciences priced a new funding round that pushed its valuation from $1.3 billion to roughly $8.5 billion. Hadrian Automation closed a $1.37 billion round on August 6 at a $7.87 billion valuation, anchored by JPMorgan’s Strategic Investment Group. Finally, Ethos Technologies jumped after swinging to a surprise profit in its second-quarter earnings, with revenue more than doubling year over year.
Why Tracking Private Markets Matters
Much of this growth happened out of public view. SpaceX and Cerebras were each worth tens of billions, or in SpaceX’s case trillions, before most investors could buy a single share. By the time a company lists, a large share of its value creation may already be behind it.
That is where the Prime Unicorn Index adds value. Tracking private company valuations gives investors visibility into where capital is flowing and which sectors are heating up, well before an IPO puts that information in a prospectus. It also works as a portfolio diversifier. Private markets don’t move in lockstep with public equities, and this week makes the case well: AI infrastructure, defense manufacturing, and life insurance technology all posted gains at the same time, for entirely different reasons. That kind of spread is hard to find in a single public index.
The Bigger Picture
Together, these moves capture a market still finding new highs, even as individual stories pull in different directions. Anthropic and Cerebras are riding demand tied to AI infrastructure. SpaceX is proving early skeptics wrong on liquidity fears. ClickHouse shows how private marks can lag real business momentum before catching up all at once.
The Index’s new record reflects all of it at the same time. For a market often defined by a handful of headline names, this was a week when the gains were genuinely spread out.
Together, these moves capture a market still finding new highs, even as individual stories pull in different directions. Anthropic and Cerebras are riding demand tied to AI infrastructure. SpaceX is proving early skeptics wrong on liquidity fears. ClickHouse shows how private marks can lag real business momentum before catching up all at once.
The Index’s new record reflects all of it at the same time. For a market often defined by a handful of headline names, this was a week when the gains were genuinely spread out.
Want more data on Unicorn companies, including funding and valuation history, secondary transactions, and more? Email Contact@PrimeUnicornIndex.com or Call 646-290-9254.