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In an extraordinary rise from Karachi’s busy streets to Silicon Valley’s elite, 25-year-old Sualeh Asif has co-founded Cursor, an AI-powered code editor now valued at nearly $10 billion. This latest funding round marked one of the fastest startup ascents in history.
From Toy-Tinkerer to Tech Visionary
Growing up in Karachi, Sualeh showed early curiosity. He rode his bike through chaotic streets, demolished toys to inspect their workings, and lost himself in books. His humble origins hid a powerful drive. In 2022, he and three fellow MIT graduates launched Anysphere, the company behind Cursor.
AI That Understands Code
Cursor goes beyond basic autocomplete tools. It reads entire codebases, spots bugs like a senior developer, and completes complex functions intelligently. Built on a modified VS Code framework, it lets developers write in plain language, refactor code en masse, and lean on AI-powered “agent” assistance.
The platform gained traction fast. By April 2025, its annual recurring revenue (ARR) hit $200 million — doubling from the end of 2024. Today, over 360,000 developers pay $20–40 per month, making Cursor the fastest SaaS tool ever to reach $100 million ARR.
Vibe Coding Blitz-Scale Funding Journey
Cursor’s funding rounds reflect its rapid ascent. After a $400,000 pre‑seed in 2022 and an $8 million seed led by OpenAI’s Startup Fund, the company raised $60 million (Series A) at a $400 million valuation in August 2024. A $105 million Series B in January 2025 pushed its valuation to $2.5 billion. Just months later, in May 2025, Anysphere closed a $900 million round at a $9 billion valuation.
Reports also name major investors like Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Accel,
Big Tech Backs Down
Even Amazon and OpenAI are taking notice. Internal probes reveal that over 1,500 Amazon employees called for Cursor adoption. The company may replace its internal AI with Cursor due to strong demand. This marks a turning point in enterprise code tools.
An Era of ‘Vibe Coding’
Cursor stands at the forefront of a shift toward natural-language-based development, or “vibe coding.” Its conversational AI support and advanced workflows helped Cursor write nearly one billion lines of code daily At major firms like Google and Microsoft, such tech now powers 20–30% of code output.
Sualeh’s story is rare and unique. Few 25-year-olds cofound unicorns, let alone shape global developer tools. As AI disrupts coding, he and Cursor are transforming how software gets written.
