In the first quarter of 2026, North American startups secured a historic $252.6 billion in funding across all stages, shattering previous records. The surge was overwhelmingly driven by artificial intelligence companies, which attracted $221 billion — about 87% of total investment. This quarter’s funding dwarfs the prior record of $95.7 billion set in Q3 2021. Notable investments include OpenAI’s unprecedented $122 billion raise, and major rounds for Anthropic, xAI, and Waymo. While late-stage and technology growth rounds made up 88% of the total investment, early-stage funding also saw a healthy increase. Seed-stage investment remained steady at $5.1 billion, though with fewer deals. Exit activity was modest, featuring IPOs like EquipmentShare and significant acquisitions such as Brex by Capital One. This quarter marks a paradigm shift indicating private markets now rival public ones in capital and valuation appetite, particularly for AI ventures.
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