← 返回财报

Crunchbase: Q1 2026 Shatters Venture Funding Records — AI Boom Pushes Startup Investment to $300B

Record-Breaking Investment Surge

In the first quarter of 2026, venture capital reached an unprecedented milestone. Investors deployed "$300 billion into 6,000 startups globally in the quarter, up over 150% quarter over quarter and year over year." This represents the highest quarterly venture investment ever recorded.

The scale was extraordinary: Q1 2026 alone accounted for nearly 70% of all venture capital invested throughout 2025, and exceeded the total investment volume of every full year prior to 2018.

AI Dominance

Artificial intelligence companies captured the overwhelming majority of investment: "$242 billion — 80% of total global venture funding in Q1 — went to companies in the sector," compared to 55% in the prior year's first quarter.

Four mega-rounds dominated the landscape: - OpenAI: $122 billion - Anthropic: $30 billion - xAI: $20 billion - Waymo: $16 billion

These four companies collectively secured $188 billion, representing 65% of all global venture funding that quarter.

Geographic Concentration

The United States captured "$250 billion, or 83% of global venture capital in Q1," a significant increase from 71% in Q1 2025. China ranked second with $16.1 billion, followed by the United Kingdom at $7.4 billion.

Funding Stage Breakdown

  • **Late-stage funding**: $246.6 billion across 584 deals, up 205% year-over-year
  • **Early-stage funding**: $41.3 billion across 1,800 deals, up 41% year-over-year
  • **Seed funding**: $12 billion, up 31% year-over-year, though deal counts declined 30% as remaining rounds grew larger

Foundational AI Startups As of March 31, foundational AI startups had raised $178 billion across 24 deals, compared with $88.9 billion across 66 deals in all of 2025 — effectively **doubling the entire previous year in one quarter**.

Valuation Impact

The Crunchbase Unicorn Board added "$900 billion in value during the quarter, marking the largest valuation bump in a single quarter."

Exit Activity

While IPO activity slowed in the U.S., M&A activity strengthened. Notable transactions included Savvy Games Group's planned $6 billion acquisition of ByteDance's gaming unit Moonton and Capital One's planned $5.15 billion acquisition of fintech startup Brex.