Hugging Face is exploring an outright sale at a potential valuation of at least $13 billion. Business Insider reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that the open-source AI hub has hired bankers to gauge buyer interest. No deal is done, and no buyer has been publicly named.
That price would be nearly double the $4.5 billion valuation Hugging Face got in its 2023 funding round — and it marks a sharp reversal from the company's earlier attitude. The Financial Times disclosed earlier this year that Nvidia had offered a $500 million investment at a $7 billion valuation late last year. Hugging Face declined, saying it didn't want a single large investor to gain too much influence.
CEO Clément Delangue said last month that Hugging Face's annual recurring revenue has passed $100 million. At a $13 billion valuation, that works out to roughly 130 times ARR. Delangue also said 97% of users use the platform for free.