Cursor had no shortage of suitors in its short life as an independent company.

Why it matters: Holding off from selling appears to have paid off for Cursor.

Driving the news: Elon Musk had been eyeing Cursor since at least last year, when the company's valuation had surged to $29.3 billion by November from $9.9 billion early in the year.

• Microsoft also eyed the company, according to CNBC, but ultimately did not make an offer.

The big picture: Though considered a killer app for AI usage, coding has become increasingly difficult and expensive for standalone companies.

• Cursor has been working on its own model to try and stave off some of the competition — which is expensive and requires large amounts of compute.
• The difficulty in obtaining compute makes combining with a hyperscaler very attractive.

What we're watching: Musk has showed up in more than one M&A rumor in recent weeks.

• Tesla said in its earnings on Thursday that it had acquired an unnamed $2 billion AI hardware company using stock and equity awards.

Thoma Bravo is preparing to turn customer feedback company Medallia over to its creditors, leading to a roughly $5.1 billion wipeout for equity holders, according to Reuters.

Why it's the BFD: Thomas Bravo's become the poster child of private equity's software woes, driven by the SaaSpocalypse.

Catch up quick: Thoma Bravo acquired the business for $6.1 billion in 2021, and has some $3 billion in debt from Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global, and Antares Capital.

Between the lines: This is more about 2021 financing than about AI. The tech has yet to truly enter the enterprise — the customer base Medallia and its peers focus on — but it certainly hurt sentiment and valuations.

• Blackstone's global head of private credit Brad Marshall said in February, Medallia's issues are not "related to AI, ​but due to what we believe to be execution-driven issues."

• Vast Data, an enterprise storage company, hit a $30b valuation. Drive Capital and Access Industries led the $1b primary and secondary offering. Nvidia, Fidelity, and NEA participated. axios.link/3OUt7Y4

• Omni, an SF-based AI analytics company, raised a $90m Series C valuing it at $1.5b led by Iconiq. Theory Ventures, First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and GV participated. It also issued a $30m employee tender offer. omni.co

🚑 Tortugas Neuroscience, a Framingham, Mass.-based neurology-focused biotech, raised $106m in Seed and Series A funding. Cure Ventures led the Seed, and will co-lead the Series A with The Column Group and AN Venture Partners. tortugasneuro.com

• Cloudsmith, a Belfast, Northern Ireland-based software component protection platform, raised a $72m Series C, per Axios Pro. Existing investor TCV led and Insight Partners joined. axios.link/496tgym

• Orkes, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based AI deployment startup, raised $60m. AVP led a Series B, joined by Prosperity7 Ventures, alongside existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, and Vertex Ventures US, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4vC79JQ

🚑 Courier Health, a NYC-based patient experience management company, raised a $50m Series B led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from Norwest and Work-Bench. courierhealth.com

• Afresh, an SF-based grocery software developer, raised $34m led by Just Climate and High Sage Ventures. axios.link/3Okm5f7

• Atmos Space Cargo, a German developer of orbital transport and re-entry vehicles, raised €25.7m in Series A funding led by Balnord and Expansion Venture Capital joined by and Keen Defence and Security, the European Innovation Council, OTB Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, APEX Ventures, Seraphim, Faber, E2MC, Kirch Ventures, Lennertz & Co., Mätch VC, MBG Baden-Württemberg, and Tech Horizons. axios.link/4sSd2Ae

• Petual, an SF-based financial audit software developer. has raised over $20m, per Axios Pro. Andreessen Horowitz led one round and First Round Capital the other. Cowboy Ventures joined. axios.link/3OEKFqU

• Rilian, a McLean, Va-based cybersecurity and defense systems developer, raised $17.5m in seed and seed extension funding. Investors include 8VC, 8090 Industries, Liquid 2 Ventures, Perot Jain, and Protego Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Qmyekh

• C-Infinity, a Mountain View, Calif.-based process planning automation startup, raised $16m. Canaan Partners led, joined by Inventus Capital, Bee Partners, and Radius Capital. axios.link/4cFeKhY

• Mosaic, a NYC-based deal modeling platform, raised an $18m Series A led by Radical Ventures. axios.link/4e2G8Jp

• Scatr, a Cleveland-based data protection startup, raised a $12.6m Series A funding led by First In. axios.link/41TC4no

• Octen, an AI-native search infrastructure company, raised a $10m seed. SquarePeg led, joined by Argor. axios.link/3QFZuu1

• Copperhelm, a Tel Aviv-based agentic cloud security company, raised $7m in seed funding led by TLV Partners, with participation from toDay Ventures, ICON, and SaaS Ventures Israel. Kfir Tishbi, Or Hiltch, Guy Zipori and Ephraim Yarmak also participated. copperhelm.com

• Futures Music Group, an NYC-based indie music label, has raised $6m from investors including Ben Blackburn, founder of Common Knowledge. axios.link/4e0dvfO

• The Cook & Boardman Group, backed by Platinum Equity, agreed to acquire the assets of Exclusive Trim, a Coral Springs, Fla.-based turnkey provider of interior finishing solutions. axios.link/4sOI0sQ

🚑 CVC Capital Partners and GTCR are exploring a potential takeover of Teleflex, the medical devices maker, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4emvE7V

• CVC and Prudential Financial are heading up a consortium that's in the lead for a £1b stake in Standard Life's pension-risk transfer business. axios.link/3QqEhnQ

⚡️ Delta Utilities, backed by Bernhard Capital Partners, agreed to Spire's (NYSE: SR) Mississippi local natural gas distribution company. axios.link/48gjUji

• CVC Capital Partners, Bain Capital and an EQT consortium, have been invited to the next round of bidding for Volkswagen's diesel engine unit Everllence, per Bloomberg. It's attracted bids of $9.2b previously. axios.link/4sOpmkU

• EQT is weighing a takeover of Kakaku.com, a Tokyo-listed web services and job search platform. axios.link/4u64iax

• FTV Capital invested in Valitana, a Stamford, Conn.-based portfolio management solution for structured credit. valitana.com

• GTCR closed its acquisition of Fiduciary Company, a Boston-based private wealth manager and trust company. axios.link/4t06yiQ

• KSL Capital Partners agreed to acquire Invited Clubs, which operates golf and membership clubs, for around $3b, per Reuters. axios.link/4vJwMIG

🚑 THL Partners acquired a $1.8b majority stake in Celerion, a clinical pharmacology and bioanalytical sciences company, from H.I.G., per Axios Pro. axios.link/3QVywi3

• Veristat, backed by WindRose Health Investors, plans to acquire Certara's Regulatory and Medical Writing business. veristat.com

• Xceed Foodservice Group, a portfolio company of San Francisco Equity Partners, invested in Encore Food Solutions, a food procurement consultancy. axios.link/4e4wCp1

• NSSK is now seeking to acquire Makino Milling Machine, a Japanese machine tool maker, after The Japanese government moved to block MBK Partners' takeover of over national security concerns, per Nikkei. axios.link/4cIz8iz

• OpenAI will invest $500m in DeployCo, a JV with private equity firms to sell AI tools to businesses, valuing it at $10b. It has the option to add another $1b. Investors including TPG, Bain Capital, Advent International, Brookfield and Goanna Capital would invest another $4b. axios.link/4tnurSc

• Burtech Acquisition II, a blank check company targeting retail, hospitality, tech, and real estate, filed to raise up to $100m. axios.link/4vMgor2

• Adams Street raised $2.5b for its sixth co-investment fund. axios.link/48KguWc

• L Catterton launched a Champ, a $500m fund with athletes including Kevin Durant, Mike Trout and golfer Patrick Cantlay, targeting consumer companies. axios.link/4d1IW8o

• Gopuff named Howard Schultz, former Starbucks CEO, to its board of directors. axios.link/48Khutq

• JPMorgan hired Kaushik Banerjee and Homan Milani to its technology investment banking team. Banerjee will focus on semiconductor and electronics clients. He was previously head of semiconductors and electronics IB at Bank of America. Homan co-head of the bank's AI effort. He was previously head of Americas Internet IB at Bank of America. axios.link/4cMk7MJ

JetBlue shares sold off yesterday on news of the potential Spirit Airlines bailout. Catch up quick.