H1 2026 Venture Report: A Record $510B Globally, Dominated by AI
Crunchbase data shows global venture funding hit a record $510 billion in H1 2026 — surpassing all of 2025's $440 billion — with AI the absolute protagonist.
NVIDIA Tops $5.5 Trillion: AI Chip King Sets a Historic Record
NVIDIA became the first company ever to top a $5.5 trillion market cap in May 2026, driven by relentless AI chip demand.
Q1 Global Venture Funding Shatters Records at $300B, Up 150% on AI Boom
Crunchbase data: $300 billion flowed into roughly 6,000 startups in Q1 2026, up more than 150% both quarter over quarter and year over year.
February Sets an All-Time Monthly Funding Record: AI Takes 90% of $189B
Crunchbase data: startups raised a record $189 billion in February 2026, with AI-related companies capturing $171 billion — 90% of the total.
Gamma Hits 100M Users and $100M ARR, Valued at $2.1 Billion
AI presentation tool Gamma announced 100M users, $100M+ ARR with profitability, and a $68M Series B at a $2.1B valuation.
Nvidia Plans Up to $100B in OpenAI: 10 Gigawatts Bind the Two Giants Together
On September 22, 2025, Nvidia and OpenAI signed an LOI to deploy at least 10GW of Nvidia systems, with Nvidia investing up to $100 billion as each gigawatt lands.
Europe Closes Ranks: ASML Leads Mistral's €1.7B Round at an €11.7B Valuation
In September 2025, lithography giant ASML led Mistral's Series C with €1.3 billion, making the French startup Europe's most valuable AI company.
Anthropic Hits a $183B Valuation: $13B Series F as Run-Rate Revenue Quintuples in Eight Months
On September 2, 2025, Anthropic closed a $13 billion Series F led by ICONIQ at a $183 billion valuation, with run-rate revenue up from $1B to $5B+.
Meta Pours $14.3B Into Scale AI as 28-Year-Old Alexandr Wang Takes Over Superintelligence Labs
In June 2025 Meta bought 49% of Scale AI for $14.3 billion and recruited its CEO — the most expensive shot in the AI talent war.
$32 Billion With No Product: Ilya Sutskever's SSI Raises Another $2B
In April 2025, Safe Superintelligence raised $2 billion at a $32 billion valuation — under a year old, zero product, zero revenue.