22 Pre-IPO companies are actively hiring right now.

For most people, the only way to participate in these companies is to buy stock after the IPO. But there's another way: join now, earn equity, and ride the wave from the inside.

Why Pre-IPO matters for your career

When a company goes public, early employees who hold equity often see life-changing returns. The window to join is now — before the S-1 is filed, before the lock-up, before the price discovery that comes with a public listing.

This isn't just about money. Pre-IPO companies are in scaling mode: roles are bigger, ownership is higher, and the decisions you make shape the company's public chapter. These are the jobs people look back on as the defining move of their career.

1. Anthropic — $965B · Series H

What they do: AI safety company and the team behind Claude. Filed confidentially for an IPO on June 1, 2026, targeting an October listing. $47B+ in annualized revenue. The most valuable private AI company in the world.

Why it matters: This is the IPO of the generation. Anthropic is the only frontier AI lab with a credible path to profitability (targeting break-even by 2028) and an explicit safety mission. 823 open roles across research, engineering, product, and GTM.

Location: SF / NYC / Remote 🔗 job-boards.greenhouse.io/anthropic

2. OpenAI — $852B · Series F

What they do: The company behind ChatGPT and GPT-4. 900M+ weekly active users. $25B+ in annualized revenue. Confidentially filed for an IPO in June 2026, targeting a late 2026 or 2027 listing.

Why it matters: The most widely used AI product in history. An IPO at or near $1 trillion valuation would be the largest software listing ever. 1,163 open roles.

Location: SF / NYC / Global 🔗 openai.com/careers/search

3. Databricks — $134B · Series L

What they do: The data and AI platform trusted by 60%+ of the Fortune 500. $5.4B in annualized revenue growing 65% YoY. Positive free cash flow. CEO confirmed IPO readiness — timing TBD.

Why it matters: The only profitable company in the major AI IPO pipeline. Net retention above 140%. If you want pre-IPO equity in the most financially sound AI infrastructure company, this is it.

Location: SF / Remote (global) 🔗 databricks.com/company/careers/open-positions

4. Stripe — $91.5B · Series I

What they do: Financial infrastructure for the internet. $1.9T in payment volume in 2025 — up 34% YoY. Powers millions of businesses from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. 494 open roles.

Why it matters: Stripe is cash-flow positive and in no rush to go public. When they do list, it will be on their terms, at their price. Joining now means being part of the pre-IPO team that built the company people will have wanted to work at.

Location: SF / Dublin / Remote (global) 🔗 stripe.com/jobs/search

5. Revolut — $75B · Series E

What they do: Digital banking platform with 70M+ customers in 160+ countries. Received its full UK banking license in March 2026. $2.2B+ in revenue. IPO widely expected in 2026.

Why it matters: The most valuable fintech company in Europe. A 2026 IPO would be among the largest fintech listings ever. 1,000+ open roles globally.

Location: London / NYC / Remote (global) 🔗 revolut.com/careers/

6. Canva — $42B · Series F

What they do: Design platform used by 230M+ people in 190 countries. Trusted by 95% of Fortune 500 companies. $2.8B+ in annualized revenue. IPO expected in 2026 or 2027.

Why it matters: One of the most profitable private software companies in the world. Canva has been profitable for years without needing to go public. An IPO at $42B+ would be a landmark listing for Australian tech.

Location: Sydney / Austin / London / Remote 🔗 lifeatcanva.com/en/jobs/

7. Ramp — $32B · Series F

What they do: Finance operations platform processing $200B+ in annualized spend across 70,000+ companies. Business Insider confirmed Ramp will be IPO-ready by end of 2026. Lightspeed led the $300M Series F in December 2025.

Why it matters: One of the fastest-growing fintech companies ever built. Customers save an average of 5% and close books 8x faster. A 2026 IPO listing at $32B+ would validate fintech's AI infrastructure thesis.

Location: NYC / SF / Hybrid 🔗 jobs.ashbyhq.com/ramp

8. Fanatics — $31B · Series F

What they do: Global sports platform — licensed merchandise, trading cards, sportsbook, and live events. 100M+ fans served globally. Partnerships with 900+ sports properties. IPO expected in 2026 or 2027.

Why it matters: Michael Rubin has built the most diversified sports commerce company in the world. The IPO will unlock liquidity across all business units simultaneously. 391 open roles.

Location: Jacksonville / NYC / Remote 🔗 job-boards.greenhouse.io/fanaticsinc

9. Kraken — $20B · Pre-IPO Round

What they do: One of the world's longest-standing and most secure crypto exchanges. $1.5B in revenue in 2024. Confidentially filed for an IPO in November 2025. Paused listing in March 2026 due to market conditions — still actively considering H2 2026.

Why it matters: The Fed master account Kraken secured in March 2026 — the first for any crypto firm — is a landmark for the industry. A Kraken IPO signals crypto infrastructure has fully matured.

Location: SF / Remote (global) 🔗 jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com

10. Discord — $15B · Series H

What they do: Social platform for communities, gamers, and creators. 200M+ monthly active users. Confidentially filed for an IPO in January 2026. One of the most culturally significant pre-IPO internet companies.

Why it matters: Discord has built one of the highest-engagement platforms on the internet. 77+ open roles including engineering, design, safety, and GTM.

Location: SF / Remote (US) 🔗 discord.com/careers

11. Perplexity — $14B · Series D

What they do: AI-powered search engine providing direct, cited answers to complex queries. 400M+ monthly queries. Growing rapidly as a Google alternative for knowledge workers. IPO targeting 2028.

Why it matters: The team is clear-eyed about staying private to build — no artificial IPO pressure. Joining now means pre-IPO equity at a $14B valuation before revenue scales into the billions.

Location: SF (in-office) 🔗 perplexity.ai/hub/careers

12. Rippling — $13.5B · Series F

What they do: HR, IT, and finance platform that unifies employee data across every system a company runs. Fastest-growing HR software company ever built. IPO expected 2026 or 2027.

Why it matters: $13.5B valuation with 10x ARR growth trajectory. Parker Conrad has built the most technically ambitious HR company in history. Pre-IPO equity here could be significant.

Location: SF / NYC / Dublin / Remote 🔗 rippling.com/careers/open-roles

13. Superhuman — ~$13B · Series C

What they do: AI-powered productivity suite — email, writing, coding, and collaboration tools. Rebranded from Grammarly in October 2025. 50M+ users. IPO pipeline with bankers engaged.

Why it matters: The rebrand to Superhuman signals a $13B+ bet on becoming the AI productivity platform for knowledge workers. A suite company with consumer + enterprise scale is a rare IPO profile.

Location: SF / NYC / Hybrid 🔗 superhuman.com/company/careers/jobs

14. Brex — $12B · Series D

What they do: Corporate cards and spend management platform for startups and enterprises. Rebuilt from the ground up as an AI-first financial OS. $12B valuation, IPO pipeline.

Why it matters: Brex walked away from SMBs to double down on enterprise — a contrarian bet that's paying off. A focused, high-margin business going into a public market that rewards clarity of vision.

Location: SF / NYC / Remote 🔗 brex.com/careers#jobboard

15. Notion — $10B · Series C

What they do: All-in-one workspace for notes, wikis, project management, and AI. 100M+ users globally. Bloomberg reported in December 2025 that Notion "could consider an IPO as early as end of 2026."

Why it matters: One of the most beloved productivity tools ever built. Notion's IPO would be a landmark for the bottoms-up SaaS model. Pre-IPO equity at $10B could look very different post-listing.

Location: SF / NYC / Remote 🔗 jobs.ashbyhq.com/notion

16. Dataiku — $10B · Series F

What they do: Universal AI platform helping enterprises build, deploy, and govern AI at scale. 700+ enterprise customers. Picked banks for a US IPO in October 2025. $10B valuation target.

Why it matters: French-founded, globally distributed, enterprise AI at scale. One of the few AI platforms with deep Fortune 500 penetration across regulated industries. 41 open roles.

Location: NYC / Paris / Remote (global) 🔗 job-boards.greenhouse.io/dataiku

17. Plaid — $8B · IPO 2026/2027

What they do: The financial data connectivity layer powering 8,000+ fintech apps and 12,000+ financial institutions. Revenue grew 25%+ in 2025 — a record. IPO widely expected in 2026 or 2027.

Why it matters: Visa tried to buy Plaid for $5.3B in 2020. Regulators blocked it. Plaid then kept building and is now worth $8B on its own terms. The IPO story writes itself.

Location: SF / NYC / Remote 🔗 plaid.com/careers/

18. Cohesity — $7B · IPO 2026

What they do: AI-powered data security and management platform. Completed its $3B acquisition of Veritas in December 2024. CEO Sanjay Poonen confirmed 2026 IPO plans at a valuation targeting Rubrik's public market comp. 47-149 open roles.

Why it matters: Post-merger, Cohesity is one of the largest data protection companies in the world. Backed by NVIDIA, SoftBank, Sequoia, and Accel. An IPO in 2026 would be a landmark for enterprise data security.

Location: Santa Clara / Remote 🔗 cohesity.com/careers/open-positions/

19. Cohere — $7B · Series D

What they do: Enterprise AI platform — LLMs, AI agents, and retrieval for regulated industries. $240M+ in ARR. CEO confirmed IPO is coming "soon." Hired IPO-experienced CFO in 2025. Just acquired Aleph Alpha to create a $20B combined entity.

Why it matters: The enterprise AI alternative to OpenAI for companies that need data sovereignty and compliance. Oracle, Salesforce, and the Royal Bank of Canada are customers. An IPO would validate enterprise AI as a standalone market.

Location: Toronto / SF / London / Remote 🔗 jobs.ashbyhq.com/cohere

20. Mistral AI — $6B · Series C

What they do: European frontier AI lab. Open-weight models competing directly with OpenAI and Anthropic. 169 open roles. Partners with major European governments and enterprises. Backed by a16z, Lightspeed, and General Catalyst.

Why it matters: The strongest non-US AI lab in the world. As AI sovereignty becomes a geopolitical priority, Mistral's position in Europe is uniquely defensible. An IPO would be the defining moment for European AI.

Location: Paris / Remote (global) 🔗 jobs.lever.co/mistral

21. Motive — $2.85B · Series D

What they do: AI platform for fleet management and the physical economy. Picked JPMorgan to lead a potential IPO in October 2025. Trusted by 120,000+ companies managing 1M+ vehicles, assets, and drivers.

Why it matters: Founded by Pakistani-American entrepreneur Shoaib Makani. One of the few AI companies with deep penetration into the physical economy — trucking, construction, energy, agriculture. A differentiated IPO story in a field of software-only businesses.

Location: SF / Remote 🔗 gomotive.com/company/careers/

22. Strava — $2.2B · Series E

What they do: The world's leading platform for movement. 180M+ athletes in 185+ countries. Confidentially filed for an IPO with Goldman Sachs in January 2026. Plans to launch AI-generated coaching and personalized training plans post-IPO.

Why it matters: 180M athletes who actively choose to use Strava every day — not because they have to, but because they want to. That kind of engagement is rare. 20+ open roles.

Location: SF / NYC / Hybrid 🔗 jobs.ashbyhq.com/Strava

List verified July 2026. Job postings change fast — check each careers page directly for current openings.

Written by Ashher

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here

© 2025 AngelsRound

228 Park Ave S, #29976, New York, New York 10003, United States