Global venture funding hits a record $510 billion in the first half

Global venture funding hit a record $510 billion in the first half of 2026, Crunchbase reported on July 2, 2026. Startups raised more in six months than the $440 billion invested in all of 2025: $305 billion in the first quarter and $205 billion in the second. OpenAI and Anthropic alone took $217 billion, or 43% of the total.

How much did startups raise in the first half of 2026?

$510 billion, by the count of Crunchbase News, based on Crunchbase data as of July 1, 2026. Other trackers use their own databases and definitions, so their totals differ; PitchBook-NVCA's US-only count is covered in Venture Monitor: Q2 records.

How concentrated was the funding?

Very. Two AI developers took 43% of the half-year total, and in the second quarter one company took close to a third.

• Anthropic raised $65 billion in Q2 (see Anthropic raises $65 billion).
• 16 companies raised rounds of $1 billion or more in Q2, totaling $108.6 billion, or 53% of the quarter; seven of them were frontier AI labs.
• AI-focused companies drew more than 70% of global startup capital in Q2, up from just under 50% a year earlier.
• US companies received two-thirds of Q2 capital, down from 83% in Q1.

Which funding stages grew in the second quarter?

Crunchbase says funding grew at every stage, with the late stage leading.

Seed figures usually rise after a quarter ends, as rounds are reported late. What each round letter says about a company is explained in Series A, B, C, D rounds.

What happened to exits in the second quarter?

Exit values reached a record: 32 IPOs at valuations above $1 billion and 24 acquisitions at $1 billion or more, worth $113 billion, the highest quarter on record.

SpaceX went public at a $1.77 trillion valuation, raising $75 billion, the largest IPO for a venture-backed company (SpaceX completes the largest IPO in history). Less than a week later, it confirmed its intent to acquire Anysphere, maker of the Cursor coding tool, for $60 billion.

What does the record mean for investors?

The record shows how much capital went to a few AI leaders, not how the typical startup raised money. Crunchbase itself calls the 43% share of OpenAI and Anthropic an important caveat. This article is market context, not investment advice.

Update (October 2026): In its October 5 report, Crunchbase revised Q2 to $212 billion and counted $159 billion in Q3, or $679 billion for the first nine months of 2026. KPMG's Venture Pulse, published July 23, put first-half global VC investment at $560.4 billion under its own methodology.