Start-up funding jumps to record $297B in Q1
02 Apr 2026

Global investment in start-ups hit a record-breaking $297 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to Crunchbase data.

The figure is a staggering 2.5 times higher than the $118 billion raised in the last quarter of 2025.

This single-quarter total exceeds all annual global VC activity before 2019.

The unprecedented surge was driven by four massive deals, each setting its own record.

OpenAI, Anthropic secure massive funding rounds
Funding milestones

Earlier this week, OpenAI announced a valuation of $852 billion after raising $122 billion.

The amount surpassed the previous record for the largest funding round ever, also held by OpenAI when it raised $40 billion last year.

The quarter also saw Anthropic, a major competitor of OpenAI, raise $30 billion at a valuation of $380 billion.

Other notable deals and trends
Additional investments

The first quarter of 2026 also saw xAI and Waymo raise $20 billion and $16 billion, respectively.

These four mega-deals together raised a whopping $188 billion, accounting for over 63% of the total funding in the quarter.

Despite these massive deals, anecdotal evidence suggests that seed-stage AI startups are getting bigger investments and higher valuations at earlier stages than ever before.