Private Markets: Cursor in talks for $2B, Blue Energy secures $380M

AI coding startup Cursor nears a massive raise, while Blue Energy secured fresh capital for its prefab nuclear push.

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This week’s private company news:

• Cursor, a leading AI startup for coding, is in advanced talks with investors to raise about $2B in a funding round at a valuation of more than $50B, not including the investment, Bloomberg’s Rachel Metz, Natasha Mascarenhas and Rebecca Torrence report, citing a person familiar with the matter. Andreessen Horowitz, an existing backer, is set to co-lead the funding round, said the source. Nvidia (NVDA) is also planning to participate in the financing, according to two people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that SpaceX said it has secured an option to either acquire Cursor for $60B later this year, or pay $10B for their new partnership, as it pushes deeper into ‌the lucrative market for AI developer tools. 
• Robinhood’s (HOOD) venture fund is investing $75M in OpenAI, signaling a reconciliation after last year’s dispute over Robinhood’s tokenized “access” to OpenAI shares, which OpenAI publicly disavowed, The New York Times’ Niko Gallogly reports. The deal reflects growing retail investor demand for private tech companies, as OpenAI itself continues expanding ways for public investors to gain exposure through fundraising and ETF partnerships, Gallogy writes.
• Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk increased his stake in SpaceX last year by purchasing $1.4B worth of stock from current and former employees, The Information’s Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg report. SpaceX also approved a plan last month that would award the billionaire CEO 60 million additional shares if the company’s market capitalization climbs from $1.1T to as high as $6.6T and the firm completes a plan of building data centers in space to supply compute for AI developers, according to the report.

Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include: 

• Blue Energy – The developer of financeable, prefabricated nuclear power plants raised $380M in finance. It intends to use the funding to advance its turnkey approach to nuclear plant development. Publicly traded companies in the space include Plug Power (PLUG), Bloom Energy (BE), and Ballard Power (BLDP).
• Wasabi Technologies – The hot cloud storage company said it has secured $250M credit facility. The round was led by Bain Capital’s Private Credit Group with participation from U.S. Private Credit Investments, Neuberger Specialty Finance, Energy Impact Partners, and Aksia. Publicly traded companies in the space include Snowflake (SNOW), Pure Storage (PSTG), and DigitalOcean (DOCN).
• Reliable Robotics – The autonomous aircraft systems company announced $160M in new funding. The financing was led by Nimble Partners, with continued support from Eclipse, Lightspeed, Coatue and Pathbreaker Ventures.  Publicly traded companies in the space include Boeing (BA), Textron (TXT), and AeroVironment (AVAV).
• Ray Therapeutics – The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company said it closed an upsized and oversubscribed $125M Series B financing. The round was led by Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from additional new investors Adage Capital Management, Franklin Templeton, Invus, and Marshall Wace. Publicly traded companies in the space include Regenxbio (RGNX), Sarepta (SRPT), and Editas Medicine (EDIT).
• Slash Financial – The banking platform announced a $100M Series C funding round led by Ribbit Capital at a post-deal valuation of $1.4B. Publicly traded companies in the space include Block (XYZ), SoFi (SOFI), and Upstart (UPST).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• Axelar – The company is among notable emerging unicorns in the blockchain/AI crossover category. Publicly traded companies in the space include Coinbase (COIN), Marathon Digital (MARA), and Riot Platforms (RIOT).
• Anysphere – The infrastructure tools for Native AI company is listed among the new $5B-plus ultra-unicorns in broader market coverage. Publicly traded companies in the space include Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and CoreWeave (CRWV).
• VAST Data – The AI-driven data infrastructure company is a high attention enterprise tech unicorn. Publicly traded companies in the space include Pure Storage (PSTG), Snowflake (SNOW), and NetApp (NTAP).
• Figure AI – The humanoid robots startup is seeing major partnership momentum with OpenAI collaboration and BMW pilot. Publicly traded companies in the space include Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT).
• Digit Insurance – The digital first general insurance company operates in the same space as Lemonade (LMND), Root (ROOT), and Progressive (PGR). It’s been in the spotlight thanks to tech enabled underwriting plus strong growth in digital insurance penetration.

IPOs to watch:

• Cerebras Systems – The company announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. SEC relating to a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock. The number of shares of Class A common stock to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Cerebras intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “CBRS.”
• Jersey Mike’s Subs – The sandwich chain with more than 3,000 locations submitted a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering, Bloomberg’s Bailey Lipschultz reported. The Blackstone-backed company said in a statement that the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Jersey Mike’s is seeking a valuation of at least $12B and the IPO is anticipated to raise more than $1B, sources said.
• HawkEye 360 – The company filed for an initial public offering of shares of common stock and said it intends to apply for listing of its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HAWK.”  
• Boundless Group – The company is offering 4M Class A ordinary shares on a firm commitment basis in an initial public offering. The company expects the initial public offering price of its Class A ordinary shares to be in the range of $4.00 to $5.00 per share.
• Liftoff Mobile – The company announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The total number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The offering is subject to market and other conditions and the completion of the SEC’s review process.

“Private Markets” is The Fly’s recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.