Hugging Face Stock: Will the Startup IPO?

Explore ways to acquire Hugging Face stock before the IPO. Get access to pre-IPO startups like OpenAI, Databricks, and Anthropic via the Fundrise Innovation Fund. 

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Hugging Face News

06/13/2024: Hugging Face CEO Says AI Founders Looking to Sell
01/25/2024: Google Cloud and Hugging Face Announce Partnership
11/28/2023: Hugging Face says it’s seeing more client interest
11/22/2023: After OpenAI drama Hugging Face could emerge a winner
Older news…

About Hugging Face

Hugging Face is a collaboration platform for the machine learning and AI communities. The website is a central hub where users can explore, discover, and experiment with open-source machine learning. 

The company empowers machine learning engineers, data scientists, and end users to learn skills and share their expertise in building an open-source and ethical future of artificial intelligence. 

Several journalists have dubbed it the “GitHub of AI”. Companies like Stability AI use Hugging Face to host open-source code for text-to-image models. 

The company was co-founded in 2016 by three French entrepreneurs based in New York. It remains a Manhattan-based startup. 

The Hugging Face mission is: 

To democratize good machine learning, one commit at a time.

A commit is a computer science term for an operation or command that sends the latest version of source code to a code repository.

In the gold rush toward AI supremacy, venture capital firms are paying up for early access to startups like Hugging Face that are laying the groundwork for what many believe is the greatest technology opportunity of the next decade and beyond (and to regain losses from crypto overindulgence). 

But can retail investors invest?

Here’s an engaging video presented by Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf, discussing the future of natural language processing (NLP).

Ownership

Hugging Face is a venture-backed startup. Equity owners include the co-founders, employees, private investors, corporate investors, and venture capital firms. 

Has raised $395 million in private funding to date. The latest round was a Series D completed in August 2023, raising $235 million. 

Lux Capital, Betaworks Ventures and Sound Ventures, Sequoia, Coatue, A.Capital, SV Angel, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM, Salesforce,  Thirty-Five Ventures (Kevin Durant, Rich Kleiman), Dev Ittycheria, Alex Wang, Aghi Marietti, Florian Douetteau, Richard Socher, and Olivier Pomel (Datadog). 

Funding Rounds

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Valuation

The last confirmed Hugging Face valuation is $4.5 billion based on the August 2023 Series D funding round.

IPO Potential

The Hugging Face IPO date is still to be determined and is unlikely to occur in the next few years. The timeline could accelerate if AI startups like Anthropic or AI hardware platforms like Cerebras start going public.

Several AI startups experienced substantial private funding rounds in 2023, often at high valuations in hopes of future revenues. As such, companies like Hugging Face will need to prove they can grow into their 2023 valuation before receiving another funding round. 

Additional private funding rounds may need to be completed before an IPO. However, multiple AI startups may eventually look to test the technology enthusiasm in the public markets. 

Since Hugging Face’s business model is similar to GitHub, giants like Microsoft, Amazon, or Google may be interested in an acquisition before the IPO.

Microsoft, in particular, acquired GitHub and has taken a significant stake in OpenAI, showing its commitment to becoming an AI tech leader. Amazon and Google may feel pressure to catch up through strategic acquisitions.  

Bookmark this page for the latest developments.

How to Invest in Hugging Face Stock

Hugging Face is a private company, making it challenging to become an equity owner today. The high private valuation relative to revenue adds an element of greater risk for retail investors. 

With the August 2023 fundraise, early investors and employees may look for opportunities to liquidate shares or options, providing retail investors a chance to invest pre-IPO.

Accredited investors can take action to own shares indirectly. Non-accredited investors can watch pre-IPO venture funds for an investment.  

Otherwise, most retail investors will have to wait until an IPO or own a tiny piece indirectly through one of the larger public tech investors. 

Here are some possible ways to acquire shares before and after an IPO.

1. Access Shares on Pre-IPO investing platforms

I have yet to see instances of Hugging Face stock availability on pre-IPO investing platforms. That could mean there have yet to be opportunities, or I missed them. This is common for a somewhat young company with significant funding rounds in 2022 and 2023.

Pre-IPO shares will become available when early investors or employees want to cash out before an IPO. Many may be holding shares as the company is in growth mode. 

Opportunities may become more likely if the company raises a Series E round of venture capital, which would make headlines if the company’s AI stature continues to rise. 

Accredited investors can watch pre-IPO investing platforms such as Hiive, Equitybee Forge Global, Linqto, and EquityZen for Hugging Face share availability. 

Check out our list of top pre-IPO investing platforms for current share availability.

If shares become available, expect at least a $10,000 investment minimum. Signing up for online access to pre-IPO platforms, which include newsletters and deal alerts, is free. 

Non-accredited retail investors can sidestep accreditation requirements to acquire startup equity via pre-IPO venture capital funds like the Fundrise Innovation Fund (review).

However, you cannot select individual pre-IPO companies, and Hugging Face stock is not in the portfolio at this time.

Please note: This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on AccessIPOs.com. All opinions are my own.

As startups mature and conduct more private funding rounds, more current equity holders may seek liquidation before the IPO. 

2. Own Equity Indirectly

Multiple large public companies own equity stakes in Hugging Face. Individual investors can own those companies to gain a small amount of exposure to Hugging Face and its leading AI development and open-source platform. 

The following public companies own Hugging Face stock: 

• Salesforce
• Microsoft
• NVIDIA
• Amazon
• Google
• AMD
• Intel
• IBM

Investors can open an account with TradeStation or another commission-free online broker to buy shares. 

3. Participate in the IPO through an IPO broker

The Hugging Face IPO is likely multiple years away, barring an AI IPO gold rush.

But if and when an IPO arrives, investors can position themselves to participate in IPOs to achieve investment objectives. IPO investing carries significant, increasing the potential for significant gains and losses. 

In the past few years, access to IPOs has become more attainable to retail investors.

The following online brokers give customers access to IPOs. 

• TradeStation 
• Robinhood 

These brokers do not provide access to every deal, and the number of shares available in each deal varies by demand and platform. 

TradeStation and Webull have a longer track record of accessing more than 360 IPOs and secondary offerings via their partnerships with ClickIPO. 

But Robinhood has the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs. The allocation sizes vary from deal to deal. 

Check out this list of best brokers for IPO investing to learn more about IPO access for retail investors.

4. Buy Hugging Face stock after the Hugging Face IPO

We don’t know if or when a Hugging Face IPO will occur. It’s still early. 

Therefore, pre-IPO investing may be the best path for investors eager to own Hugging Face if it becomes available. Pre-IPO access would allow investors to benefit from an IPO or acquisition. 

But there are advantages to waiting until after the IPO before owning stocks. Specifically, AI valuations are rising quickly. An IPO may bring prices down to earth. Stock price declines after IPOs can also be excellent entry points. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Hugging Face publicly traded?

No. Hugging Face is not publicly traded. It is private.

What is the Hugging Face Stock Price?

There is no public Hugging Face stock price yet. The company is private. 

Private stock price information is becoming more available and reliable based on pre-IPO marketplace data and other sources. 

However, the stock price is only the value of one share. Like public companies, the underlying valuation metrics, revenue, profitability, and market sentiment toward private companies are more significant factors than the share price.

What is the Hugging Face stock symbol?

Hugging Face is a private company and should be for at least the next few years. There is no Hugging Face stock symbol yet.

Company stock symbols only become known at the release of the S-1 SEC filing. A Hugging Face IPO filing is not anticipated for the next few years.

Therefore, we only speculate about the future Hugging Face ticker symbol. Here are a few suggestions that are available in the U.S.: 

• HUGG
• HUGS

Where is the Hugging Face IPO S-1 Filing?

Hugging Face is not likely to start the IPO process in the next few years, so you will not find a Hugging Face S-1 SEC filing anytime soon. 

When the company is capable of generating revenue commensurate with its private valuation, it may choose the public route. I expect an AI rush to go public in the next five years when broader market conditions become favorable. 

If Hugging Face ever submits an S-1 filing and releases it to the public, we’ll post it here. 

In the meantime, you can check out the most recent S-1 filings in our S-1 filings feed. 

Hugging Face News Archive

09/13/2023: Clem Delangue is the public face of open-source AI
08/24/2023: Hugging Face raises $235M
08/22/2023: Salesforce Leads Financing of AI Startup
05/09/2023: Hugging Face reaches $2 billion valuation
05/09/2022: Hugging Face Raises $100 Series C

Conclusion

Retail investors get excited about leading platforms fueling growth in industries like AI. Hugging Face’s “GitHub-like” platform has this coveted attribute.

But startup investing can be challenging. Access is elusive, and the financial availability to perform due diligence can be even harder to come by. 

Hugging Face is increasingly mentioned among the most sought-after private AI startups. As such, the current equity demand for AI is very high, but there’s limited supply. 

This could create a trap for retail investors. Be cautious any time you seek to acquire pre-IPO shares. 

Though pre-IPO investing platforms have opened more opportunities, private equity investing is still primarily reserved for accredited investors because of the added risk.

If Hugging Face stock is on your radar, be patient for pre-IPO availability. We may need to wait for another private round for pre-IPO opportunities to arise. A Hugging Face IPO is possible in the next five years, but I won’t be surprised if a large tech company acquires Hugging Face to get a leg up on its peers.