Should the early year’s impetus persist, the artificial intelligence sector will once more become a substantial lure for venture funding, potentially reaching unprecedented valuations.
According to TechCrunch, AI startups within the US secured upwards of $76 billion through sizable funding initiatives in 2025. The prospect of replicating this outcome in 2026 is yet to be determined, though the year’s outset indicates a notably heightened level of investor interest.
February 2026
Simile , a startup dedicated to crafting AI for the purpose of simulating human decision-making, has successfully secured $100 million in a Series A funding round. This round was spearheaded by Index Ventures , with contributions from Hanabi Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, alongside various angel investors (as publicized on February 12).
Anthropic revealed a $30 billion Series G funding round, achieving a valuation of $380 billion (February 12). The extensive list of more than 30 investors includes Founders Fund , Coatue , and Nvidia .
Runway , a media creation platform, garnered $315 million in a Series E round, placing its valuation at $5.3 billion. General Atlantic spearheaded this funding endeavor (February 10), with Nvidia, Fidelity, and Felicis also joining as investors.
Goodfire, an AI research laboratory, declared a $150 million Series B round (February 5). B Capital led the round, with Juniper Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures participating. The company’s valuation reached $1.25 billion.
Fundamental, an AI research enterprise, obtained $255 million in Series A funding, achieving a valuation of $1.4 billion (February 5). The investor roster includes Oak HC/FT, Salesforce Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and QP Ventures.
ElevenLabs , a voice AI startup, secured $500 million in Series D funding (February 4). This round was spearheaded by Sequoia Capital , driving the company’s valuation up to $11 billion.
January 2026
The PaleBlueDot AI computing platform obtained $150 million in Series B funding, resulting in a $1 billion valuation (January 28). B Capital was the lead investor in this round.
Decagon, a conversational AI platform, announced a $250 million Series D round (January 28). This round was jointly led by Coatue and Index Ventures, placing the company’s valuation at $4.5 billion.
Flapping Airplanes, an AI lab, successfully completed a $180 million seed round, with Google Ventures, Sequoia, and Index Ventures as the lead investors (January 28). The company’s valuation reached $1.5 billion.
Baseten, an infrastructure AI startup, raised $300 million in Series E funding, bringing its valuation to $5 billion (January 23). IVP and CapitalG led this round.
Only a few months after its inception, Inferact, an AI inference startup, has acquired $150 million in seed funding (January 22). The company’s valuation stands at $800 million. Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners co-led the funding round.
OpenEvidence , a medical AI chatbot headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, secured $250 million in Series D funding (January 21). Thrive Global and DST Global co-led this round, resulting in a valuation of $12 billion.
humans&, an AI lab, revealed $480 million in seed funding (January 20). Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and GV are among the investors, valuing the startup at $4.48 billion.
Skild AI , a company specializing in creating AI models for robotics, raised $1.4 billion in a Series C funding round, achieving a $14 billion valuation (January 14). SoftBank and Nvidia spearheaded the round.
The voice AI platform, Deepgram , successfully raised $130 million in Series C funding (January 13). AVP led the round, with contributions from Tiger Global, ServiceNow Ventures, and Madrona, leading to a valuation of $1.3 billion.
Arena, a platform developed for the evaluation of large language models, secured $150 million in Series A funding (January 6). Felicis and UC Investments co-led the round. The one-year-old startup is currently valued at $1.7 billion.
xAI, the AI lab founded by Elon Musk , announced a $20 billion Series E round (January 6). Investors encompassed Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, and the Qatar Investment Authority. SpaceX acquired the company in the subsequent weeks.
Trend of the year: AI as the main magnet for capital
The early part of 2026 reaffirms that artificial intelligence remains a pivotal force within the US venture capital landscape. Billion-dollar valuations during the seed and Series A phases, the engagement of prominent global funds and corporations, coupled with a focus on infrastructure, voice technologies, medical AI, and robotics, are collectively defining a fresh competitive era for industry leadership.
Presuming this momentum endures, 2026 has the potential to surpass the previous year in terms of accumulated capital, thus further escalating the competition for technological dominance in the AI sector.