"The AI industry entered 2025 with strong momentum. There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch; three companies raised more than one "mega-round," and seven companies raised rounds that were $1 billion in size or larger. The industry didn't slow down in 2025. While less companies raised rounds larger than $1 billion, four - Anthropic raised two rounds over $1 billion - significantly more companies raised multiple rounds compared to 2024, eight."
"How will 2026 compare? Elon Musk's xAI announced a $20 billion Series E round and Sam Altman's brain computer interface startup Merge Labs raised a $250 million seed round (with OpenAI as the lead investor) in the first few weeks of 2026, so signs point to another strong year. Of course, it's still early; we'll be watching to see if the momentum continues."
"Here are all the U.S. AI companies that raised $100 million this year: December: Boston-based 7AI, which builds cybersecurity AI agents, raised a $130 million Series A round that was announced on December 4. Index Ventures led the round with participation from Greylock, Spark Capital and CRV, among others. November Anysphere, the maker of viral vibe-coding platform Cursor, raised $2.3 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $29.3 billion. The round was announced on November 13 and is the company's second funding round this year."
The AI sector continued strong momentum from 2024 into 2025 and early 2026, following 49 startups that raised $100M+ rounds in 2024. Multiple companies completed mega-rounds, and several firms raised $1B+ financings; Anthropic raised two separate $1B+ rounds in 2025. Early 2026 featured very large rounds, including xAI's $20B Series E and Merge Labs' $250M seed with OpenAI participation. Numerous U.S. AI companies raised nine-figure funding across the year, spanning cybersecurity agents, consumer platforms, model labs, and healthcare and housing automation startups, indicating broad investor interest across AI verticals.
Read at TechCrunch
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