How much, you Figure?

Top News

• Figure prices above range: After raising its IPO range, consumer lending and blockchain fintech company Figure priced above its raised interval, listing at $25 per share. Worth some $6.1 billion at that price point, the company’s debut marks another venture-backed, financial technology company going public this year, on top of eToro, Klarna, Chime, and Circle. Klarna’s own IPO, which debuted yesterday, also priced above-range. The Swedish BNPL giant rose around 15% in its first day’s trading.

• Ant’s robot: While American companies like Figure (no relation to the above company) and Tesla tout progress on their humanoid robot projects, their Chinese counterparts are not sitting still. Ant Group’s Robbyant division showed off its ‘R1’ humanoid robot at a recent tradeshow, underscoring the technology giant’s wager that off-the-shelf robotics parts and its own software and AI can unite to something greater than the sum of their parts. Several humanoid robotics startups are listed on the TWiST500, including Figure, 1X, and Apptronik.

• Vantage boosts global AI scaling: Investments in data centers are a global game, as AI demand pushes centralized computing hubs to their limits. Today, Vantage Data Centers announced a $1.6 billion investment and the acquisition of a 300 megawatt facility in Malaysia. Expanding AI compute demand in APAC mirrors similar growing demand in MENA, North America, and other regions.

TWiST500

Speaking of scaling demand for data centers to handle AI computing, American database and cloud giant Oracle had one of the best trading days in memory, adding nearly a quarter trillion dollars to its market cap yesterday. The cause? A dramatic rise in future commercial commitments (RPO), which grew by $317 billion from the preceding quarter to the most recently reported.

After investors popped champagne for Oracle, it came to light that some $300 billion of its new RPO backlog came from a TWiST500 company, OpenAI. Put another way, the American AI concern is snapping up twelve-figures worth of future Oracle compute capacity to keep its own business humming. That’s an enormous amount of implied future compute required for one of the leading AI providers in the world today.

The coin has two sides. While it’s incredibly bullish for Oracle that OpenAI is willing to commit to such huge purchases of compute supply, AI bears are raising a series of red flags concerning AI deployments inside corporations, an expected source of durable demand for AI inference. Studies highlighting struggling corporate deployments of tailored AI solutions failing have cast a pall over market sentiment, which has gyrated from high to low to high and back again throughout 2025. (I wrote about the ups and downs of AI hype this year, if you want more.)

Someone is right, and someone is wrong. OpenAI is either overcommitting to AI compute supply in the coming years, or AI detractors are wrong about genAI’s future ability to land lucrative corporate contracts.

In very personal terms: Ask yourself what would happen if you lost access to all AI services tomorrow. How much would that bother you? Your answer likely helps decide which side of the bull/bear divide you currently occupy. — Alex

A message from Miro

Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!

This Week in Startups

E2176: Alex returns for inside looks at two more up-and-coming TWiST 500 companies. First up, he talks with Kendrick Nguyen of Valor-backed Republic about making private markets more accessible to retail investors. Then it’s a chat with another Valor-backed founder, Mitesh Agrawal of Positron, about building custom chips for powering efficient, high-speed AI apps and queries. These are deep-dives into the mindsets of two fascinating founders that you won’t find anywhere else!

E2175 : Alex digs into the real-world rollout of AI agents: Paid.ai’s Manny Medina explains agent economics and value-based pricing. Then, iTruckr’s Camilo Ramirez shows agents booking loads and coordinating drivers. Lastly, Tenax’s Elise Myrans demos computer vision + drones that score a single home’s wildfire/flood risk for smarter underwriting. The show wraps with live office-hours on winning enterprise pilots without getting stuck in PoC purgatory.

E2174: It’s a special pre-recorded Friday TWiST. Jason, Alex, AND Lon open the show by following up the “KPop Demon Hunters” debacle. Sony Pictures’ CEO says the movie wouldn’t have been a theatrical hit and Netflix was the best home for it… But Jason isn’t buying it. PLUS Jason’s response to Lina Khan on The Bulwark podcast, his “two stock markets” theory, why Atlassian wanted to buy a browser company, Google’s anti-trust remedies, and MUCH MORE.

TWiST Partner Offers

• Netsuite: The business landscape is very chaotic right now. That’s why you need NetSuite, by Oracle. Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist

• Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist

• .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.

Angel University is Back!

Jason and Mike Savino are hosting our next virtual Angel University workshop on Tuesday, October 7. Jason will share proven strategies he’s used to invest $200M+ in over 500 startups. Whether you’re new to angel investing or looking to sharpen your skills, this is your chance to learn directly from one of the most active angel investors in the world. Register now at angel.university!

Founder U is Coming to the MENA Region!

Our 12-week pre-accelerator—designed to help early-stage founders build and grow—kicks off this fall in Saudi Arabia. The first cohort launches in Riyadh on November 3rd, followed by in-person and virtual sessions throughout the program. Founders in MENA: this is your chance to turn your idea into a business and get world-class insights on building a successful startup. Apply today: https://mena.founder.university/

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details.

The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker.