Research from Water Tower Research, Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research

Research from Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research is a leading equity research firm that provides research on micro, small and mid cap companies.

Water Tower Research was founded by Wall Street veterans after witnessing a fundamental shift in the investment research industry with the result being a declining knowledge base among investors, a lack of awareness and a shrinking pool of fundamental research being conducted on companies across the small-cap and micro-cap spectrum. The same issues are now increasingly occurring in the mid-cap space. This sea change within the investment community is impacting not only the companies themselves but also current shareholders and potential investors. With significantly less active sell-side sponsorship by Wall Street, a substantial information gap has developed between companies and various constituents in the financial community. The net result is fewer channels for insight and information to flow between companies and investors.

Equity Research Firm

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<div><ul><li>WTR AI Private Pools Index update. Using data from PM Insights, we track private AI company valuations and created a market value-weighted WTR AI Private Pools Index.</li><li>As of 5/11/26, the index had 38 active constituents and a total market value of $2.20 trillion. The two largest constituents are Anthropic (~41.0%) and OpenAI (~38.2%).</li><li>Another big month increase driven by Anthropic. WTR AI Private Pools Index performance for month ending May 11, 2026*. </li></ul></div>

WTR AI Private Pools Index update. Using data from PM Insights, we track private AI company valuations and created a market value-weighted WTR AI Private Pools Index.As of 5/11/26, the index had 38 active constituents and a total market value of $2.20 trillion. The two largest constituents are Anthropic (~41.0%) and OpenAI (~38.2%).Another big month increase driven by Anthropic. WTR AI Private Pools Index performance for month ending May 11, 2026*. 

AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter : Exploring Private Company Valuations in AI - 18 May 2026

<ul><li>Introducing AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter. Using data from PM Insights, we examine the monthly valuation changes in private companies in the AI space.</li><li>Unlike traditional company valuation assessments done quarterly, PM Insights data show equity price fluctuations between funding rounds and regular financial reporting periods.</li><li>We are following ~46 private companies in AI from PM Insights data and created a WTR AI Private Pools Index, with a market value (as of 3/9/26) of $1.73 trillion.</li></ul>

Introducing AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter. Using data from PM Insights, we examine the monthly valuation changes in private companies in the AI space.Unlike traditional company valuation assessments done quarterly, PM Insights data show equity price fluctuations between funding rounds and regular financial reporting periods.We are following ~46 private companies in AI from PM Insights data and created a WTR AI Private Pools Index, with a market value (as of 3/9/26) of $1.73 trillion.

AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter : Exploring Private Company Valuations in AI

Private Markets, Angel and Secondary Investing, Sacra

Sacra

Private Markets, Angel and Secondary Investing

Bringing transparency to private markets so investors, founders, and employees can build on conviction. Sacra delivers deeply researched insights on the private companies shaping tomorrow's markets. By surfacing the data, context, and operator perspective that are missing from private markets today, we help secondary buyers and sellers price equity accurately and unlock liquidity for the people building these businesses.

Private Capital Markets

<ul><li>Sacra estimates that Micro1 hit $1B in annualized revenue in October 2026.</li><li>In September 2025, Micro1 raised a $35M Series A led by 01 Advisors at a $500M valuation.</li><li>Micro1 is broadening its customer base from AI labs to Fortune 1000 companies developing proprietary copilots and internal AI systems.</li></ul>

Sacra estimates that Micro1 hit $1B in annualized revenue in October 2026.In September 2025, Micro1 raised a $35M Series A led by 01 Advisors at a $500M valuation.Micro1 is broadening its customer base from AI labs to Fortune 1000 companies developing proprietary copilots and internal AI systems.

<ul><li>Sacra estimates that Mercor hit $2B in annualized gross revenue in June 2026, up from $760M at the end of 2025, reaching the milestone after going from $0 to $500M run rate in 17 months.</li><li>The company's revenue acceleration coincides with increasing demand from AI labs and technology companies seeking specialized talent for model training and development.</li><li>On October 28, 2025, Mercor finalized a $350M Series C led by Felicis at a $10B valuation, with Benchmark, General Catalyst, and Robinhood Ventures participating as investors.</li></ul>

Sacra estimates that Mercor hit $2B in annualized gross revenue in June 2026, up from $760M at the end of 2025, reaching the milestone after going from $0 to $500M run rate in 17 months.The company's revenue acceleration coincides with increasing demand from AI labs and technology companies seeking specialized talent for model training and development.On October 28, 2025, Mercor finalized a $350M Series C led by Felicis at a $10B valuation, with Benchmark, General Catalyst, and Robinhood Ventures participating as investors.

<ul><li>Sacra estimates that DataRobot hit $225M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the end of 2023, up 13% year-over-year.</li><li>The company has raised approximately $1.1 billion in total funding across multiple rounds.</li><li>DataRobot sells a B2B SaaS enterprise AI platform via subscriptions to large organizations across government and commercial sectors.</li></ul>

Sacra estimates that DataRobot hit $225M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the end of 2023, up 13% year-over-year.The company has raised approximately $1.1 billion in total funding across multiple rounds.DataRobot sells a B2B SaaS enterprise AI platform via subscriptions to large organizations across government and commercial sectors.

United States

Tooling suite for data labeling, model training, and deployment for enterprise ML teams

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Scale AI (AI US)

Primer: micro1 - 21 Aug 2026

Marketplace matching AI labs with pre-vetted domain experts for RLHF tasks

Sacra

Primer: Mercor - 20 Aug 2026

Marketplace matching AI labs with pre-vetted domain experts for RLHF tasks

Sacra

Primer: DataRobot - 31 May 2026

AI software for automating model development, deployment, and monitoring across enterprise teams

Sacra

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AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter : Exploring Private Company Valuations in AI - 18 May 2026

WTR AI Private Pools Index update. Using data from PM Insights, we track private AI company valuations and created a market value-weighted WTR AI...

Water Tower Research

AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter : Exploring Private Company Valuations in AI

Introducing AI Flow Private Pools Newsletter. Using data from PM Insights, we examine the monthly valuation changes in private companies in...

Water Tower Research

Primer: micro1 - 21 Aug 2026

Marketplace matching AI labs with pre-vetted domain experts for RLHF tasks

Sacra

Primer: Mercor - 20 Aug 2026

Marketplace matching AI labs with pre-vetted domain experts for RLHF tasks

Sacra

Primer: DataRobot - 31 May 2026

AI software for automating model development, deployment, and monitoring across enterprise teams

Sacra