So far this year, global startups have closed at least 114 Series A rounds of $100 million or more, according to Crunchbase data — the highest annual total in years and on track to exceed the all-time peak. The cohort of megaround recipients has collectively raised approximately $33 billion, including at least 12 rounds valued at $500 million or more.
More than 70% of those $100 million-plus rounds went to AI-focused companies, underscoring the sector's dominance in early-stage fundraising. Among the largest were a $1.2 billion round for Silicon Valley-based River AI, a platform for training and serving custom models, and a $900 million financing for China-based Xpeng Robotics, a developer of AI-enabled humanoid robots.
The Series A pattern mirrors broader venture trends. In the first half of 2026, estimated venture and growth funding to AI startups totaled roughly $394 billion — about 77% of all investment capital deployed across all stages. While most of that sum went to later-stage financings, early-stage deals are now reflecting a comparable concentration.
US-based startups captured roughly half of the jumbo Series A activity, accounting for about 62 deals totaling some $15 billion. That trajectory points toward a record year for American-led early-stage megarounds. However, the geographic spread of Series A megadeals is more global than overall venture investment, where more than three-quarters of seed-through-growth funding went to US companies, fueled largely by massive rounds for Anthropic and OpenAI.
Several factors appear to be driving the trend beyond the AI boom alone. Leading venture investors hold unusually large capital reserves, giving them capacity to write bigger checks. Exit multiples — historically and especially in recent years — have rewarded ambitious companies over modest ones, shifting risk calculus. At the Series A level specifically, investors seem to be converging on a narrower set of sectors, business models, and founding teams, prompting concentrated bidding among perceived leaders. As one practical maxim in the market goes, a pricey stake in a winner still outperforms a discounted share in a laggard.
Related Crunchbase resources include lists of global 2026 Series A rounds of $100 million or more and detailed sample profiles of the year's largest early-stage deals.
