FTX sold Alameda's Anysphere stake for $200K — the AI firm is now worth $9 billion

The FTX estate sold an Alameda Research entity’s stake in Anysphere in April 2023 for $200,000 — a company that is reportedly now valued at $9 billion.

Founded in 2022, Anysphere is the developer of the popular AI "vibe coding" app Cursor, which incorporates advanced AI features like natural language code generation, predictive editing, and comprehensive codebase understanding.​

Alameda Research invested alongside Heroic Ventures in Anysphere’s $400,000 pre-seed round in April 2022, according to Crunchbase. FTX bankruptcy filings show that Alameda invested $200,000 in Anysphere through Clifton Bay Investments LLC, formerly known as Alameda Research Ventures LLC. In April 2023, the FTX estate confirmed that Clifton Bay sold its equity position for the same amount.

The FTX Group, including crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research, collapsed into bankruptcy in November 2022 after revelations that billions of dollars in customer funds were misused to cover Alameda's trading losses and risky bets.

A $9 billion valuation

Anysphere subsequently raised an $8 million seed round in October 2023, a $60 million Series A in August 2024, and a $105 million Series B in December, rapidly increasing its valuation to $2.5 billion. Now, its latest $900 million round, led by OpenAI backer Thrive Capital, has more than tripled Anysphere's valuation to $9 billion, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the deal. Andreessen Horowitz and Accel are also reportedly among other participants.

Anysphere's valuation surged following rapid growth in annual recurring revenue, which reached around $200 million in April, according to the outlet, positioning it as one of the fastest-growing software firms to date.

The company’s valuation following the April 2022 pre-seed round was not publicly disclosed, nor was the size of Alameda’s equity stake. But had the FTX estate retained its investment, it could have returned many multiples. In other words, FTX creditors could have potentially lost out on as much as hundreds of millions of dollars.

It's not the first time the FTX estate has sold off assets early. In June 2024, the FTX estate sold its remaining shares in Anthropic, another valuable AI startup, as the total cost of the bankruptcy surpassed $500 million in legal and administrative costs.