Q1 VC funding hits $300B record driven by massive AI rounds
emmanuelvivier · x · 2026-08-22
Crunchbase reports that global venture investment reached a record $300 billion in Q1 2026, up over 150% YoY, driven by AI spending. AI startups secured $242 billion, or 80% of the total. Massive rounds from OpenAI ($122B), Anthropic ($30B), xAI ($20B), and Waymo ($16B) accounted for 65% of all global investment.
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