Mercury vs OpenAI
Side-by-side equity comparison for employees weighing offers at Mercury or OpenAI. Valuations, funding history, headcount growth, and secondary-market context.
| Mercury | OpenAI | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest valuation | $4B | $852B |
| Latest round | Series C | Series E |
| Round date | June 2024 | October 2024 |
| Total raised | $213M | $13.3B |
| Founded | 2017 | 2015 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Employees | 2,814 | 7,829 |
| Employee YoY growth | -2% | +71% |
| Primary industry | Fintech | Artificial Intelligence |
| Secondary-market price | $12.24 | $664.96 |
| Base-case equity multiple | 1x | — |
| Upside equity multiple | 1x | — |
| Lead investors | Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz | Thrive Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund |
| Status | private | private |
Overview
Mercury is a financial technology company that provides banking services tailored for startups, including checking and savings accounts, treasury management, and corporate cards.
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company that develops general-purpose AI systems including GPT large language models and the ChatGPT consumer product.
Why we compare these
Mercury and OpenAI both appear on Sara's List 2024 .
If you're evaluating offers at either one, the equity math depends on more than the headline valuation — dilution, strike price, time to liquidity, and concentration risk all matter. Use our equity compensation calculator and exit calculator to model your own numbers.