Stripe's acquisition of OpenRouter hasn't even been officially announced, but the venture capitalists behind the AI gateway are already getting ready to cash in. Business Insider reports that if the deal closes at over $8 billion, the combined stakes held by a16z and Menlo Ventures will be worth nearly $2 billion. The most eye-popping part is a16z: it first invested in OpenRouter last year at the seed stage, putting in just $20 million total. It now holds more than 17% of the company. At an $8 billion valuation, that stake is worth close to $1.5 billion — a jump of roughly… in under two years.
