Thrive Capital, the venture firm behind OpenAI and Stripe, has taken a $100 million stake in Shopify — a rare public-market move for a VC firm. With Shopify's stock down roughly 40-46% from its highs after weaker Q2 guidance, Thrive frames the investment as a bet on AI-driven commerce. Shopify's 'agentic commerce' initiative, which lets merchants surface products inside AI chat platforms like ChatGPT, saw AI-driven orders grow 15x year-on-year in 2025. The move reflects a broader trend of VC firms crossing into public equities as private valuations soar and IPO timelines stretch. Thrive previously made $522M on a contrarian Carvana trade using a similar logic.
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