Top News

​Nick Turley, the head of product for ChatGPT at OpenAI, testified today in the US v. Google trial that OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome browser if the court forced Google to sell it. TechCrunch has more here.

Speaking of blockbuster tech trials, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said in court today that Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied Instagram resources because he regarded Instagram as a threat to Meta. (Meta acquired Instagram in 2012 for approximately $1 billion in stock.) The New York Times has more here. 

Tesla announced its Q1 numbers today, reporting a 71% drop in net income from the same quarter last year. TechCrunch has more here. 

Why OpenAI Wanted to Buy Cursor but Opted for the Fast-Growing Windsurf

By Marina Temkin & Maxwell Zeff

Anysphere, maker of AI coding assistant Cursor, is growing so quickly that it’s not in the market to be sold, even to OpenAI, a source close to the company tells TechCrunch.

It’s been a hot target. Cursor is one of the most popular AI-powered coding tools, and its revenue has been growing astronomically — doubling on average every two months, according to another source. Anysphere’s current average annual recurring revenue is about $300 million, according to the two sources.

The company previously walked away from early acquisition discussions with OpenAI, after the ChatGPT maker approached Cursor, the two sources close to the company confirmed, and CNBC previously reported. Anysphere has also received other acquisition offers that the company didn’t consider, according to one of these sources.

Cursor turned down the offers because the startup wants to stay independent, said the two people close to the company. Instead, Anysphere has been in talks to raise capital at about a $10 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported last month.

Although it didn’t nab Anysphere, OpenAI didn’t give up on buying an established AI coding tool startup. OpenAI talked with more than 20 others, CNBC reported.

And then it got serious over the next-fastest-growing AI coding startup, Windsurf, with a $3 billion acquisition offer, Bloomberg reported last week. While Windsurf is a comparatively smaller company, its ARR is about $100 million, up from $40 million in ARR in February, according to a source.

More here.

Massive Fundings

Altruist, a seven-year-old startup based in Culver City, CA, whose platform enables RIAs to manage client investments, open accounts, automate trading and billing, and access custodial services, raised a $152 million Series F round at a $1.9 billion valuation. The deal was led by GIC, with Baillie Gifford, Iconiq Growth, and Geodesic Capital also opting in. PitchBook has more here. 

Biolinq, a thirteen-year-old San Diego company that is developing a wearable patch that tracks glucose levels through the skin without drawing blood, raised a $100 million Series C round led by Alpha Wave Ventures, with previous investors RiverVest Venture Partners, AXA IM Alts, LifeSci Venture Partners, M Ventures, Hikma Ventures, Aphelion Capital, Taisho Pharmaceutical, and Features Capital also piling on. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Electra, a startup based in Manassas, VA, that makes hybrid electric short takeoff and landing aircraft for regional travel, raised a $115 million Series B round led by Prysm Capital, with Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell, Safran, Statkraft Ventures, and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation also taking part. More here.

Exowatt, a two-year-old Miami startup that is building modular energy systems that store solar heat and convert it into electricity for data centers, raised a $35 million Series A round and $35 million in debt. Felicis was the deal lead, with Andreessen Horowitz, 8090 Industries, Starwood Capital, Thrive Capital, and MCJ Collective also contributing. Data Center Dynamics has more here.

Manychat, a ten-year-old Palo Alto company that offers customer and marketing automation software for messaging apps such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, raised a $140 million round. Summit Partners was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here.

Supabase, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that provides a Postgres database management system designed to help developers build and scale applications faster, raised a $200 million Series B round at a $2 billion valuation. The deal was led by Accel, with Coatue, Y Combinator, and Craft Ventures as well as previous investor Felicis also participating. The company has raised a total of approximately $398 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

FundThrough, an eleven-year-old Houston and Toronto company that helps SMBs get paid faster by advancing funds against unpaid customer invoices, raised a $25 million Series B round led by Klister Credit, with previous investors Canadian Business Growth Fund and Urbana also stepping up. BetaKit has more here.

Irrigreen, a seven-year-old startup based in Edina, MN, that sells smart sprinkler systems designed to reduce water waste by using digital mapping and AI to spray only where water is needed, raised a $19 million Series A round from Natural Ventures, Burnt Island Ventures, Ulu Ventures, MFV Partners, Tamiami, and Sum Ventures. The company has raised a total of approximately $34 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Lace AI, a three-year-old, Bay Area-based startup that makes AI-driven customer service software for home service companies, says it recently raised a $14 million seed round led by Bek Ventures. Other backers included Horizon VC, Launchub, and Snowflake’s co-founder Marcin Zukowski, among others. The outfit has now raised $19 million altogether, including a previously unannounced $5 million pre-seed round led by Canvas Ventures. TechCrunch has the story here.

Ocient, a nine-year-old Chicago startup that builds high-performance database software for analyzing massive datasets (typically trillions of records) at high speed, raised a $42.1 million Series B extension round. Allstate Strategic Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Solidigm, Massive, Zelkova, and Northwestern Mutual invested in the financing. Built in Chicago has more here.

Reco, a five-year-old Miami startup that uses AI to automatically map how employees use different SaaS tools, detect risky behavior, and prevent data leaks without disrupting workflows, raised a $25 million round. Investors included Redseed as well as previous investors Insight Partners, Zeev Ventures, Boldstart, and Angular Ventures. The company has raised a total of $55 million. CTech has more here.

Superpower, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that offers at-home blood tests and a mobile app to help users track and improve their long-term health, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Forerunner, with support from Day One Ventures, Susa Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Family Fund, Opal Ventures, Valia Ventures, Visible Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital as well as actress Vanessa Hudgens and NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo. TechCrunch has more here.

UbiQD, an eleven-year-old company based in Los Alamos, NM, that is developing quantum dot films to improve solar energy efficiency and plant growth, raised a $20 million Series B round led by Phoenix Venture Partners, with Builders VC, Azura Group, Builders Vision, Stout Street Capital, Seraph Partners, Scout Ventures, and New Mexico Vintage Fund also pitching in. AFN has more here.

Smaller Fundings

CSignum, a five-year-old Edinburgh startup that builds wireless communication devices capable of transmitting data through water and other challenging environments for industries like offshore energy, ocean monitoring, and aquaculture, raised an $8 million Series A round. Archangels, Par Equity, and Scottish Enterprise co-led the investment. Data Center Dynamics has more here.

Kenzo Security, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that provides an AI-powered platform that helps security operations teams detect and respond to cyber threats more efficiently, raised a $4.5 million seed round. The General Partnership and Michael Coates invested in the deal. SecurityWeek has more here.

PHNX Materials, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that claims to have developed a way to make concrete using waste from coal-fired power plants instead of traditional cement, raised a $2.5 million seed round co-led by Divergent Capital, KdT Ventures, and Overture. TechCrunch has more here.

Tally, a six-year-old Brooklyn startup that helps DAOs manage voting, proposals, and token-based decision-making, raised an $8 million Series A round led by AppWorks, Blockchain Capital, and 1kx and including CyberFund, Placeholder, BitGo, and Bloccelerate. NFTgators has more here.

TaxDown, a six-year-old Madrid startup that offers an online tax filing service for consumers in Spain and Latin America, raised a $4.6 million round led by Bonsai Partners, with previous investors Base10, JME Ventures, 4Founders, Atresmedia, and Mediaset also chiming in. EU-Startups has more here.

Terra Security, a one-year-old Tel Aviv and New York startup that uses AI to detect and stop zero-day attacks, ransomware, and other advanced threats, raised an $8 million seed round co-led by SYN Ventures and FXP Ventures, with Underscore VC also chipping in. CTech has more here.

VanishID, a six-year-old startup based in Washington, DC, that offers tools to help high-profile executives remove their personal data from online sources that could be exploited by attackers, raised a $10 million round led by Dell Technologies Capital, with previous investors Crosslink Capital, Rally Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lockstep Ventures, and Bright Pixel also investing. More here.

New Funds

Venture Guides, a two-year-old Boston venture firm that invests in early-stage infrastructure software companies, has raised a $262.5 million fund, its second. More here. 

Exits

According to a report from Secondaries Investor, Yale is considering selling $6 billion worth of its private equity fund interests because of poor returns and pressure from the Trump administration. This would be Yale’s first known sale in the secondaries market. The Yale Daily News has more here. 

Going Public

In a sign of just how challenging it is to go public these days, Jason Wenk, founder of Altruist, a fintech that makes software for RIAs (see the Massive Fundings section above), says his company is targeting an IPO in the "late 2020s, even early 2030s." "For us, we’d prefer to be north of $1 billion in revenue with a couple hundred million dollars-plus in GAAP profitability, and still growing at a 35%-plus growth rate,” he tells Pitchbook. "Anything premature from that, it’s highly unpredictable how public market investors will react." More here. 

People

Venture capitalist Hunter Walk makes the case for the secondary market in his new Medium post, "Praise Our Lord For Secondary Markets, Because Selling Shares Is Now an Essential Part of (Seed) Venture Capital."

Aidan Gomez, the co-founder and CEO of generative AI startup Cohere, has joined the board of EV maker Rivian, according to a regulatory filing. TechCrunch calls the appointment the "latest sign that Rivian sees promises in applying AI to its own venture while positioning itself as a software leader — and even provider — within the automotive industry." More here.

Layoffs

Intel is set to cut over 21,000 people, or roughly 20% of its workforce, with an announcement due this week, according to a Bloomberg report. The news comes ahead of Intel’s Q1 earnings call helmed by recently appointed CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who replaced longtime chief Pat Gelsinger last year. TechCrunch has more here.

Data

According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, 48% of teens say social media harms people their age, a 50% increase from 2022. More here. 

Essential Reads

Wired talks to several VCs who are worried that the Trump administration's tariffs could slow down tech investment. "If you’re looking at a portfolio of industries that rely substantially on cross-border trade or transactions, like hardware, clean tech—even biotech to a degree—you’re in a world of hurt right now,” one investor tells the pub. More here. 

A draft of a White House executive order seen by The Washington Post would create a policy integrating AI into K-12 education. More here. 

Detours

The language learning app Duolingo is apparently planning to use short puzzles to teach users chess. The Verge has more here.

The saddest airport lounge in America. 

Monsters in Japan.

Retail Therapy

A 12,102-square-foot Irish manor with an indoor pool, stables, and riding trails has hit the market for a wee $9 million.