Good day. Earlier this week, SpaceX announced it had secured the option to buy AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion. SpaceX also said it would pay Cursor a lofty $10 billion in the event the acquisition fell through.

“I think people are encouraged that there’s a big M&A market,” said Vanessa Larco, co-founder of venture firm Premise, adding that a $60 billion deal would be “a mega IPO.” She continued, “I think it’s great to see SpaceX as another formidable player in the AI M&A space.”

What are the implications of this deal, whether for exit markets or for how coding agents are used in the future? Please email responses to vcnews@wsj.com.

Last week, we asked VCs whether they use secondary stock prices in their pricing models or other ways. Here are responses:

• Nick Bunick, partner at NewView Capital: “Not all secondary prices are created equal. We believe tender offers are stronger pricing signals than isolated trades, as they’re coordinated processes with greater access to information and management. One-off exchange trades often reflect the seller’s motivations versus intrinsic value. That said, sustained price trends in liquid private names do carry signal.”
   
• Robert Porter, chief financial officer at TDK Ventures: “Secondary prices can be informative, but they are not automatically authoritative. A secondary trade may reflect real market sentiment, but it can just as easily reflect liquidity needs, retention objectives, relationship considerations or individual judgment calls that are not grounded in rigorous diligence. We may use secondary transactions as a relevant input in valuation along with the context behind the trade itself, but only as part of a broader mosaic that includes fundamentals, capital structure and comparable markets.”

And now on to the news ...

Bob Iger's next act. The former chief executive officer of Disney has taken an advisory role at Thrive Capital, the venture firm founded by Joshua Kushner, according to people familiar with the matter. Iger will work with the firm’s staff on investments and with founders of companies in Thrive’s portfolio, one of the people said.

• For Iger, who owns a stake in Thrive, the move is something of a homecoming. He first stepped down as CEO of Disney in 2020 after a 15-year stint to make way for handpicked successor Bob Chapek. Iger briefly joined Thrive as a venture partner in 2022, but relinquished the role when he returned to lead Disney later that year.

Tesla’s shareholders already give Elon Musk leeway, entertaining the billionaire’s whims as he plows money into robots and blessing a $1 trillion pay package that will pay out if he hits long-shot targets. He is poised to have even more sway at his rocket-maker, SpaceX, which is aiming to go public in June. SpaceX’s board has already granted him its own “moonshot” pay package, people familiar with the matter say. And, unlike at Tesla, the billionaire is expected to control SpaceX through the use of so-called supervoting shares, the people said.

People

Lux Capital appointed Zach Iscol as venture partner. He previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Emergency Management.

Balderton appointed Phil Chambers as partner, where he will focus on early-stage investments. He most recently served as chief executive officer of Orbex.

Partners Capital appointed Zach Gaucher as a senior principal to lead the firm’s venture capital investing efforts. He was most recently a managing director at Cambridge Associates.

Oasis Security, a non-human identity governance and agentic access management provider, named Michael DeCesare as president. He previously served as president of Abnormal AI.

Exits

Canadian cloud-based logistics and supply-chain management software company Descartes Systems Group acquired Idelic, a provider of AI-powered driver safety and performance management solutions, for up to $40 million.

VAST Data, a New York-based operating system software developer, closed on about $1 billion in primary and secondary capital, valuing the company at $30 billion. Drive Capital and Access Industries co-led the Series F round, which saw additional support from Fidelity Management & Research Co., New Enterprise Associates and Nvidia.

Omni, a San Francisco-headquartered AI analytics platform, collected $120 million in Series C funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. Iconiq led the round, which included contributions from Theory Ventures, First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures and GV.

OpenAI, the San Francisco-based maker of ChatGPT, secured a $75 million investment from Robinhood Ventures Fund I.

Cloudsmith, a software supply chain security provider, scored $72 million in Series C funding. TCV led the round, which included participation from Insight Partners and others.

Sooth Labs, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based startup that integrates events and signals to deliver calibrated, auditable long-horizon forecasts, is raising $50 million in seed funding led by Felicis at a $335 million valuation.

NeoCognition, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup developing self-learning AI agents, emerged from stealth with $40 million in seed funding co-led by Cambium Capital and Walden Catalyst Ventures.

Syenta, a Sydney-headquartered semiconductor startup developing advanced packaging technology, nabbed $26 million in Series A funding led by Playground Global and Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund.

Petual, a San Francisco-based AI-powered platform for audit and compliance, picked up a $20 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Cowboy Ventures and Elad Gil.

Mosaic, a New York-headquartered AI-driven deal modeling platform for private markets, landed $18 million in Series A funding. Radical Ventures led the investment, with Partner Ryan Shannon joining the company’s board.

Glif, a startup enabling users to produce professional-quality AI content without juggling multiple tools, fetched $17.5 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Rilian, a McLean, Va.-based startup advancing agentic AI for cyber and defense operations, snagged $17.5 million in seed funding from investors including 8VC, First In and Tamarack Global.

BAND, a startup building enterprise-grade interaction infrastructure for distributed AI agents, emerged from stealth with $17 million in seed funding from Sierra Ventures, Hetz Ventures and Team8.

C-Infinity, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI platform that automates how digital designs are translated into production-ready plans, grabbed a $16 million investment led by Canaan Partners.

Shade, a New York-based media storage platform for creatives, gathered $14 million in funding from investors including Khosla Ventures, Construct Capital and Bling Capital. Khosla’s Keith Rabois will join the board.

• Intel Sales Rise 7% as AI Agents Drive Growth

• FDA Approves First-Ever Gene Therapy to Restore Hearing

• Microsoft Offers Its First Ever Buyouts to Shape Workforce Around AI Push

• Tesla Promises Upgrade for Customers Who Bought Cars That Can’t Drive Autonomously

• America’s Largest Landowner Is Using AI to Digitize the Forest

• The Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life Enters a New Frontier

• OpenAI releases GPT-5.5, bringing company one step closer to an AI ‘super app’ (TechCrunch)
   
• At 'AI Coachella,' Stanford students line up to learn from Silicon Valley royalty (Wired)
   
• The global edtech boom is fading as investors look elsewhere (Rest of World)

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

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