Investor interest in AI coding assistants is exploding.
Anysphere, the developer of AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, is in talks with venture capitalists to raise capital at a valuation of nearly $10 billion, Bloomberg reported.
The round, if it transpires, would come about three months after Anysphere completed its previous fundraise of $100 million at a pre-money valuation of $2.5 billion, as TechCrunch was first to report. The new round is expected to be led by returning investor Thrive Capital.
Thrive Capital and Anysphere didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Anysphere’s previous round valued the company at 25 times its $100 million ARR (per The New York Times), investors seem to be willing to value fast-growing companies at even higher multiples now. Anysphere’s current annualized recurring revenue (ARR) may have already climbed to $150 million, The Information reported, which means the new deal, should it happen would be a whopping 66 times ARR.
Anysphere isn’t the only company receiving such a high valuation from investors.
Codeium, a company behind AI coding editor Windsurf, is raising capital at a valuation of nearly $3 billion, TechCrunch reported last month. Kleiner Perkins, which is leading the round into Codeium, valued the company at about 70 times ARR of about $40 million.
AI is adapting fastest in coding tools, outpacing its use in sales, law, healthcare, and other sectors, according to investors.
In recent weeks, investors have been approaching Poolside, another AI-powered coding company that is also developing its own LLM, sources tell TechCrunch and The Information. Poolside didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Â
Marina Temkin is a venture capital and startups reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she wrote about VC for PitchBook and Venture Capital Journal. Earlier in her career, Marina was a financial analyst and earned a CFA charterholder designation.