a16z's AI infrastructure investments in Cursor and OpenRouter exceed an $8 billion valuation

ME News reports that on September 7 (UTC+8), Beating AI’s quick news update revealed that a16z’s AI infrastructure team successfully backed two acquisitions within five days: Cursor was acquired by SpaceX, and Stripe announced its acquisition of OpenRouter. According to The Information, the combined value of a16z’s stakes in these two deals has now exceeded $8 billion. The return on Cursor is particularly extraordinary. In 2024, a16z participated in Cursor’s $60 million Series A round, when the company was valued at just $400 million. Today, SpaceX is acquiring Cursor for $60 billion. Bloomberg previously reported that a16z is Cursor’s largest external shareholder, holding approximately 10%—valued at around $6 billion based on the acquisition price. The speed of this return is also rare. a16z only launched its first $1.25 billion infrastructure-focused fund in 2024. According to The Information, the Cursor and OpenRouter transactions alone are sufficient to return the entire principal to the fund’s limited partners (LPs), with additional profits to distribute. Venture capital funds typically measure returns over a ten-year cycle. a16z plans to continue betting heavily on AI infrastructure. This year, it raised another $1.7 billion for an infrastructure fund and recently secured an additional $1.1 billion specifically for AI hardware investments. Martin Casado, head of AI infrastructure at a16z, noted that a few years ago, only about 5% of the startups he encountered were focused on hardware; today, that figure has risen to nearly 20%. (Source: BlockBeats)