a16z's two AI investments exceed $8 billion in value

Huo Xing Cai Jing reports 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 exceeded $8 billion. 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 was Cursor’s largest external shareholder, holding approximately 10%, which translates to a value of about $6 billion at the acquisition price. In 2024, a16z launched its first $1.25 billion infrastructure-focused fund. The Information noted that the Cursor and OpenRouter transactions alone are sufficient to return the entire principal to the fund’s LPs, with additional profits to distribute. This year, a16z 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 a16z’s AI infrastructure team, said that a few years ago, only about 5% of the startups he encountered were focused on hardware—now that figure has approached 20%.