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Global investing in startups hit $297 billion in Q1 2026, breaking all records, according to new Crunchbase data<\/a>. That\u2019s a massive 2.5x increase over the $118 billion raised in the previous quarter. This single-quarter haul outpaces every full year of global VC activity prior to 2019.<\/p>\n The unprecedented spike was fueled by just four behemoth deals, each a record-breaker in its own right.<\/p>\n Last month, OpenAI announced<\/a> that it is now valued at $852 billion after collecting $122 billion, surpassing the previous record for the largest funding round ever, also held by OpenAI when the ChatGPT maker raised $40 billion<\/a> a year ago.<\/p>\n The quarter also saw Anthropic<\/a>, its main rival, raise $30 billion at a valuation of $380 billion. That funding haul effectively made it the third-largest VC round on record. The other two mega-deals of the quarter included a $20 billion<\/a> fundraise by xAI and Waymo\u2019s $16 billion<\/a> round.<\/p>\n These four rounds collectively raised $188 billion, accounting for more than 63% of total funding in the quarter. <\/p>\n While it might appear that without them, fundraising appears to be on a more typical trajectory, anecdotal evidence implies otherwise. Investors and founders say, for example, that seed-stage AI startups are commanding bigger dollars, and higher valuations<\/a> at earlier stages than ever before.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n