This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Startup investors kept up the busy dealmaking pace this week with a number of big rounds. Top among them was a $1.75 billion Series D for , developer of autonomous vessels. Other big funding recipients hailed from sectors including fitness wearables, energy tech, cybersecurity and AI infrastructure, among others.

1. , $1.75B, autonomous ships: Austin-based Saronic, a defense tech startup focused on autonomous sea vessels, raised $1.75 billion in Series D funding, bringing total funding to around $2.6 billion. led the round, which set a $9.25 billion valuation for the聽 company, more than double its Series C level in 2025.

2. , $575M, fitness wearables: Whoop, a provider of wearable fitness technology and a subscription platform that tracks physiological data, secured $575 million in Series G funding. led the financing,which set a $10.1 billion valuation for the Boston-based company.

3. , $450M, nuclear energy: El Segundo, California-based nuclear energy startup Valar Atomics, raised fresh capital at a valuation of $2 billion, according to a citing unnamed sources. The financing reportedly included $340 million in equity funding and $110 million in debt.

4. , $300M, battery technology: EnerVenue, a developer of grid-scale energy storage technology, says it closed on a $300 million extension of its Series B preferred round led by . The Fremont, California-based company also appointed a new chief executive officer, Henning Rath.

5. , $250M, cybersecurity: Sarasota, Florida-based AI-enabled cybersecurity startup Tenex picked up $250 million in Series B funding led by . The company said it plans to use the funds to hire more than 250 people and supplying them with AI technology that makes them 鈥渢en times more efficient.鈥�

6. , $200M, micromobility: Also, an electric mobility company spun out of , raised $200 million in a Series C round 鈥媌acked by , , and . The Palo Alto, California-based startup鈥檚 product lineup includes bikes, small autonomous EVs for deliveries, and associated gear.

7. , $170M, space tech: Starcloud, a space infrastructure startup focused on building orbital data centers, secured $170 million in Series A funding led by and . The financing sets a $1.1 billion valuation for the Redmond, Washington-based company, making it the fastest alum to achieve unicorn status after demo day, which was 17 months ago.

8. , $130M, cloud infrastructure: New York-based cloud and AI infrastructure startup ScaleOps landed $130 million in Series C funding. led the financing, which set聽 a valuation of over $800 million for the 4-year-old company.

9. , $100M, biotech: Boulder, Colorado-based Ambrosia Biosciences, a developer of next-generation oral therapeutics for obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases, picked up $100 million in Series B funding led by , and .

10. , $94M, money transfer: OpenFX, provider of a platform to move money across borders, secured $94 million in Series A funding from backers including , , , and .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of March 28-April 3. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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The fundraise includes $1 billion for KP22, a fund to back early-stage companies, and $2.5 billion targeted for growth-stage investments.

It鈥檚 a considerable increase in capital commitments compared to the last time the Silicon Valley-based firm raised a flagship fund, back in 2024. In that raise, Kleiner just over $2 billion for funds to back early- and later-stage startups.

This time around, Kleiner believes market fundamentals look particularly attractive for scaling up.

鈥淭he AI super-cycle is one of the most important company-building moments in our lifetimes, and we are still in the early innings,鈥� its fundraising announcement states. Kleiner also notes that AI is enabling today鈥檚 startups to iterate and grow faster than in past cycles.

Founded in 1972, Kleiner has long been known as a cross-industry investor, active in virtually every popular sector for venture dealmaking. For its latest fund, the firm also identified a broad array of focus areas, including professional services, healthcare, autonomy, security, financial services and the physical economy.

Recent investments

Most recently, Kleiner, like most venture heavyweights, has been focused on AI startups. Beyond that, however, its portfolio companies are a highly varied lot.

To illustrate, we used 附近上门 data to put together a list of the latest reported rounds in which it served as a lead or co-lead investor. It spans healthcare, accounting and cybersecurity, among other areas.

Large lead investments

While it鈥檚 active in seed- and early-stage dealmaking, Kleiner also leads quite a few larger rounds. Over the past year, it鈥檚 been lead investor in at least five valued at $150 million or more, which we list below.

Of these, the largest was a $600 million Series F for , a developer of autonomous vehicle technology. The next-largest include a $356 million Series D for , focused on secure open-source software for AI systems, and a $300 million Series E for , the AI legal tech unicorn.

Exits too

Kleiner has also seen a few sizable recent exits for portfolio companies that it backed as lead investor. This includes last year鈥檚 largest software IPO 鈥� 鈥� which counted Kleiner as Series B lead investor.

The firm was also an early lead investor in business credit card provider , which agreed to acquire this year for $5.15 billion.

Of course, Kleiner also has much more famous portfolio investments in its more distant past, including , and , to name a few. You don鈥檛 last 50 years in the venture business without at least some of those too.

Related 附近上门 queries:

Related reading:

• Capital One To Buy Fintech Startup Brex At Less Than Half Its Peak Valuation In $5.15B Deal

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

In insecure times, security looks like an appealing sector for investment. That鈥檚 one interpretation of this week鈥檚 tally of the largest startup funding rounds.

The size of the largest U.S. deals was smaller than in recent weeks, and heavily featured cybersecurity- and privacy-focused startups. This includes the week鈥檚 biggest round 鈥� a $375 million Series B for consumer privacy and security platform . Other areas that attracted good-sized financings included AI infrastructure, biotech, healthcare, and robotics.

1. , $375M, privacy: Cloaked, a provider of consumer privacy and security tools, raised $375 million in Series B funding led by and . Founded in 2020, the Massachusetts-based company sells monthly subscriptions for individuals and families.

2. , $143M, AI infrastructure: Frore Systems, a developer of integrated cooling architecture for AI computing and networking hardware, announced that it closed on $143 million in Series D funding. led the financing, which set a $1.64 billion valuation for the 8-year-old, San Jose-based company.

3. (tied) , $120M, cybersecurity: Seattle-based XBow, a provider of autonomous security testing technology, picked up $120 million in Series C funding. and led the round, which values the 2-year-old company at over $1 billion.

3. (tied) , $120M, cybersecurity: Oasis Security, a developer of identify security tools with a focus on AI agents, secured $120 million in a funding round backed by , , and . The 4-year-old company, which is headquartered in聽 New York and has a presence in Israel, has raised $195 million to date, per 附近上门 data.

5. (tied) , $100M, medical devices: Imperative Care, a medical device company focused on treatment for stroke and vascular diseases caused by blood clot formation, secured $100 million in convertible note financing. and led the investment for the Campbell, California-based company.

5. (tied) , $100M, social media: Seattle-based social network Bluesky this week that it raised a previously unannounced $100 million Series B round that closed last spring, led by .

5. (tied) , $100M, privacy and security: Cape, a recently launched privacy-focused mobile network, landed $100 million in Series C funding. and led the financing, which set a $900 million valuation for the Arlington, Virginia-based company.

8. , $80M, healthcare AI: Latent, an AI platform aimed at helping move patients from clinical decision to therapy, picked up $80 million in a Series A round. and led the financing for the San Francisco-based company.

9. , $77M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Crossbow Therapeutics, a biotech startup focused on developing new antibody therapies to treat a broad range of cancers, raised $77 million in Series B funding. and led the round, which will support a Phase 1 clinical trial of the company鈥檚 lead program.

10. , $52M, robotics: RoboForce, a startup focused on developing AI-enabled robot labor for industrial environments, said it $52 million in fresh funding, bringing its total raise to $67 million. led the financing for the Milpitas, California-based company.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of March 14-20. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Busy week, big checks, lots of AI and robotics. That, in ultra-brief synopsis form, characterized the general startup fundraising environment this week. Notably, the two largest global rounds were U.K.-based and Paris-based , which raised $2 billion and $1.03 billion, respectively.

In the U.S., meanwhile, e-commerce platform , AI networking developer and industrial automation startup each picked up $500 million.

1. (tied) , $500M, e-commerce: Quince, an online fashion and home goods retailer with an affordable luxury theme, said it secured $500 million in Series E financing led by . The round sets a $10.1 billion post-money valuation for the 8-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

1. (tied) , $500M, AI infrastructure: AI networking startup Nexthop AI raised $500 million in Series B funding led by , with joining as a major investor alongside other backers. The Santa Clara, California-based company develops switching technology built on open-source operating systems for AI and cloud networking.

1. (tied) , $500M, robotics: spin-out Mind Robotics closed on a $500 million Series A round, co-led by and Andreessen Horowitz. The Palo Alto, California-based company is developing an AI-enabled industrial robotics platform, with a focus on automating industrial and manufacturing tasks at scale.

4. , $450M, robotics: Palo Alto, California-based robotics startup Rhoda AI emerged from stealth with $450 million in Series A funding reportedly led by . The startup trains robots using hundreds of millions of videos to develop intelligent models for operating in complex and changing environments.

5. , $400M, AI software creation: Replit, an agentic AI software creation platform, picked up $400 million in Series D funding at a $9 billion valuation, up from $3 billion just six months ago. led the financing for the Foster City, California-based company, joined by a long list of venture and celebrity investors.

6. (tied) , $200M, AI networking: AI startup Eridu emerged from stealth with over $200 million in a newly announced Series A round led by , , , and . Saratoga, California-based Eridu develops a high-performance network switch for AI data centers.

6. (tied) , $200M, artificial intelligence: Palo Alto, California-based Axiom Math AI, a developer of AI systems that can perform automated verification of computer code, $200 million in Series A funding at a $1.6 billion valuation. led the round, joined by , , and .

8. , $165M, robotics: Sunday, a startup planning a beta launch for a household robot called Memo later this year, raised $165 million in Series B funding. led the financing, which set a $1.15 billion valuation for the Mountain View, California-based company.

9. , $125M, cybersecurity: San Jose, California-based Kai, developer of an agentic AI cybersecurity platform, announced that it secured $125 million in funding led by .

10. , $100M, procurement: Oro Labs, developer of a procurement platform for enterprise customers, raised $100 million in Series C funding. and led the financing, which the company said follows a year of 300% revenue growth.

Global financings

The week鈥檚 largest rounds went to European startups.

, $2B, AI infrastructure: Nscale, an AI infrastructure hyperscaler, secured聽 $2 billion in Series C funding. and led the financing, which set a $14.6 billion valuation for the London-based company.

, $1.03B, artificial intelligence: Advanced Machine Intelligence, a startup co-founded by computer science pioneer and former AI chief , said it has raised $1.03 billion to develop 鈥渨orld models,鈥� or AI designed to learn from and interact with the physical world. The funding for the Paris-based company represents the largest seed round ever for a European startup.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of March 7-13. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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This time around, given the excitement around artificial intelligence, we honed in exclusively on AI-focused startups. The goal was to pick out a few themes that appear to be resonating.

Turns out, the hard part was narrowing it down. Investors poured over $9 billion into global AI-focused seed rounds over the past six months, per 附近上门 data. Areas they favored include cybersecurity, multimedia AI, robotics and desk work automation.

Below, we look at these seed hotspots in greater detail.

No. 1: Cybersecurity

The intersection of AI and cybersecurity has two main areas of interest. One is tools that use AI to do established security tasks more efficiently and effectively. The other is applications aimed at security issues that AI itself itself brings to the fore, such as tracking and verifying autonomous agents.

Put together, it adds up to a well-funded sector for seed, with more than $400 million invested at this stage in the past six months. Using 附近上门 , we put together a sample list of eight AI and security-focused startups that raised some of the more significant recent seed rounds.

Silicon Valley-based , a stealth startup, picked up one of the bigger rounds for tools using AI to automate security testing and identify vulnerabilities that hackers could use AI to exploit. Another standout was identity management startup .

No. 2: Robotics and drones

Robotics features frequently in our roundups of seed trends, and this time is no exception.

Per 附近上门 data, investors poured more than $850 million into seed rounds for AI-enabled robotics and drone startups over the past six months. It鈥檚 a geographically diversified lineup, with many of the largest rounds going to China-based startups.

To illustrate, we used 附近上门 to put together a list of seven recently funded companies from multiple countries.

Per 附近上门 data, the largest recent seed funding recipient is , a Chinese company developing a universal humanoid robot that can do household work. Another high-profile round went to , a spin-out of EV maker that is focused on AI-powered industrial robots.

No. 3: Multimedia and content creation tools for AI

Seed-stage startups are also innovating around how to better incorporate more language and multimedia features in AI offerings, including audio, translation and video.

To demonstrate, we used 附近上门 to assemble a list of six companies in these areas that raised sizable seed financings in the past few months.

The biggest round on our list went to Paris-based , which picked up $70 million in initial funding in December to scale audio language AI models designed to deliver voice with ultra-low latency. Others are moving quickly up the funding ladder.

San Francisco-based , developer of an API for image, video and audio generation, raised a $13 million seed round in September and a $50 million Series A in December.

No. 4: Automating niche desk work

The notion that AI tools can perform a lot of tedious screen-facing work is now fully embedded in the public consciousness. In addition, many earlier pioneers in bringing these tools to market are already well-established unicorns, including AI legal tech company and clinical note-taking platform .

But it鈥檚 not game over for newly launched startups that want to play in this space. Of late, we鈥檙e seeing seed funding to various ventures around this theme, with a particular focus on upstarts taking on niches within the vast realm of traditional deskwork. This includes areas like claims processing, procurement, healthcare call centers and building plan review.

To illustrate, we aggregated a sample of 10 companies that raised seed investment in the past six months with $10 million or more in total funding.

, a New York-based insurtech startup that uses AI to do what its name suggests, is the most heavily funded on our list, securing a $13.3 million seed round in October. Another big round that month was a $10 million seed financing for , an AI-enabled structural engineering startup that reviews building plans to enable faster permitting.

Big picture: More things we don鈥檛 pay attention to get automated

One of the intriguing things about this particular AI seed-funding data dive is that it didn鈥檛 provide many startups that triggered an immediate 鈥淚 want that鈥� reaction. For the most part, it wasn鈥檛 a highly consumer-facing sample set. To the extent upstarts are disrupting established spaces, it was in areas the average person doesn鈥檛 think about much, like healthcare recordkeeping or next-gen security. So efficiency gains will likely be more apparent for enterprises than end users.

There are some exceptions, of course, like household robots. But these aren鈥檛 innovations likely to make it into our shopping carts anytime soon.

Related 附近上门 lists:

Related reading:

• Seed Funding In 2025 Broke Records Around Big Rounds And AI, With US Far In The Lead
• These Are Some Leading Spaces For AI Investment At Seed And Early Stage

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And underlining the pace at which some startups are now sprinting to billion-dollar-plus valuations, four of the new unicorns are less than a year old.

In exit news, 9-year-old fintech unicorn was acquired by for $5.2 billion. That鈥檚 well below its January 2022 valuation of $12.3 billion but still marks a win for earlier investors seeking liquidity.

Of the 31 companies that joined the board, 23 are U.S.-based and two hail from Canada. Germany, France, Belgium, Israel, Japan and India each added one new unicorn to the board last month.

Among sectors, AI and AI infrastructure contributed the most new unicorns, totaling nine from those two areas. The next-leading sectors, with three new unicorns each, were manufacturing and security propelled by AI. AI was also a major contributor to new unicorns in the semiconductor, defense and autonomous driving sectors.

The largest funding last month for a unicorn company was $20 billion to 鈥檚 at an . Within a month of that funding, xAI in early February announced a merger with another Musk-led company, rocketmaker .

11 exits

Brex鈥檚 acquisition by Capital One was the largest of the four M&A deals for unicorn-valued companies in January.

On the IPO side, seven companies went public, the most high-profile of which were and , both foundation AI model companies based in China.

Here are January鈥檚 newly minted unicorns.

AI

• , an AI research lab focused on human collaboration, raised a $480 million seed funding led by and 1. The less than 1-year-old Redwood City, California-based company was valued at $4.5 billion.
• , an AI scientific research lab, raised a $180 million seed round led by , and . The less than 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• AI evaluation platform raised a $150 million Series A led by 2听补苍诲 . The less than 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.7 billion.
• Voice AI startup raised a $143 million Series C led by France-based . The 10-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion. As part of its announcement, Deepgram disclosed the acquisition of , a voice AI startup for restaurants and drive-thru ordering.
• , an infrastructure company for voice AI, raised a $100 million Series C led by . The 5-year-old San Jose, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

AI infrastructure

• , an AI networking company, raised a $200 million Series A led by , and . The 1-year-old Santa Clara, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• GPU marketplace raised a $150 million Series B led by . The 2-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• , for secure AI run locally on devices, raised a Series A extension funding of an undisclosed sum. The 6-year-old Austin-based company was valued at $2.5 billion.
• , which manages a GPU marketplace, raised a Series C led by . The 6-year-old company was founded in Lithuania and is now headquartered in Miami. It was valued at $1 billion.

Manufacturing

• , a builder of factories for defense and the aerospace industry, raised a $131 million private equity funding led by . The 5-year-old Hawthorne, California-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.
• , a developer of no-code applications for manufacturing, raised a $120 million Series D led by . The 11-year-old Somerville, Massachusetts-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.
• 惭辞苍迟谤茅补濒-产补蝉别诲 , a manufacturing automation company utilizing modular robotics, raised a $90 million Series D led by . The 9-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Security

• , provider of security for cloud services in real time to protect from hackers, raised a $250 million Series B led by . The 3-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• Tel Aviv-based , an AI security platform that integrates with existing security platforms to provide context on incidents, raised a $140 million Series D led by . The 6-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• Belgium-based , a developer-oriented security platform, raised a $60 million Series B led by . The 3-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Semiconductor

• , an AI chip developer to run transformer models, raised a reported $500 million funding led by . The 3-year-old Cupertino, California-based company was valued at $5 billion.
• , an AI chip design company, raised a $300 million Series A led by . The less than 1-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $4 billion.

Cryptocurrency

• Stablecoin payments platform raised a $250 million Series C led by . The 4-year-old New York-based company was valued at $2 billion.
• Crypto payments network raised a $75 million Series C led by . The 5-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Healthcare

• Maternity healthcare provider, raised a $92 million Series C led by Stripes. The 4-year-old New York-based company with plans to expand healthcare services to women and children was valued at $1.7 billion.
• , a co-ordination platform for medications across doctors, pharmacies and patients, raised a Series B led by . The 3-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Defense

• Paris-based , an autonomous drone maker, raised a $200 million Series B led by aircraft manufacturer . The 2-year-old company was valued at $1.4 billion.
• , a builder of secure software for the defense industry, raised a $136 million Series B led by . The 4-year-old Colorado-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Fintech

• Tokyo-based brokerage infrastructure provider raised a $150 million Series D led by . The 11-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• India-based , a payment infrastructure provider, raised a $50 million Series D led by . The 13-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Fitness

• , an owner of physical fitness brands and the parent of , raised a $785 million private equity financing led by . As part of the transaction it announced a merger with . The San Luis Obispo, California-based company was valued at $7.5 billion.

Autonomous Driving

• Toronto-based , a self-driving technology company, raised a $750 million Series C led by and ,valuing it at $3.8 billion. The 5-year-old company announced a partnership with to support robotaxis.

Social media

• , an AI-powered video generation platform for social media, raised an $80 million Series A extension funding which brings its Series A funding total to $130 million. The 3-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.

Education

• Online tutoring platform raised a $150 million Series D led by at a $1.2 billion valuation. The 14-year-old Brookline, Massachusetts-based company was founded by Ukrainians and maintains a team in Ukraine.

Compliance

• ESG compliance software platform raised a $100 million Series C led by , a joint venture between and . The 7-year-old Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Energy

• , a developer of a residential energy storage device for electricity and electric vehicles, raised a $163 million funding. The 7-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related 附近上门 unicorn lists:

• (1,684)
• (596)
• (37)
• (186)
• (115)
• (102)
• (868)
• (494)
• (226)
• (38)
• (470)

Related reading:

• High-Spending Investors Give 2026 An Active Start
• In The Era Of Unicorn Valuation Escalation, A Trillion Dollars Isn鈥檛 What It Used To Be
• Global VC Investment Surged In January, With U.S. Dominating Funding, But A Pair Of AI Model IPOs In China
• A Growing Share Of Seed And Series A Funding Is Going To Giant Rounds

Methodology

The 附近上门 附近上门 is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on 附近上门 data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations 鈥� such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options 鈥� as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

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Today, it wouldn鈥檛 even be enough to buy one, if it was the newly combined and , now valuing itself at $1.25 trillion. It would also fall short for purchasing both of the next two 鈥� and 鈥� at post-money valuations they鈥檙e reportedly seeking.

So how much would it take to buy the top 100 at current valuations? About $3.5 trillion, according to an estimate from private share marketplace . 2

Call it the age of valuation escalation. Leading startups, traditionally known for their skill in growing businesses, are now demonstrating a similar mastery of scaling how much they鈥檙e worth.

It鈥檚 not exactly a new phenomenon, as top venture-backed companies have a long history of securing significant up rounds. What鈥檚 remarkable about the current era, of course, is the sheer size of the valuations.

The past couple months have offered a particularly fast-moving blur of聽 reported valuation gains we thought might warrant a summary.

To illustrate, we鈥檙e highlighting gains in two categories: companies valued at $100 billion-plus (the biggest unicorns)聽 and those valued at between $20 billion and $100 billion (the next-biggest unicorns). Both are seeing some big swings up and to the right.

The biggest unicorns

We鈥檒l start with the biggest recent upward moves at the most highly valued U.S. companies, in order of valuation:

: SpaceX acquired 鈥檚 xAI last week in a that will reportedly value the combined company at $1.25 trillion. The deal comes in advance of an anticipated IPO later this year.

: The generative AI giant is reportedly in to raise $100 billion in fresh funding at a valuation of $750 billion or more. In October, the company at a $500 billion valuation.

: The Claude chatbot developer and OpenAI rival has reportedly at least $10 billion for a new financing at a $350 billion valuation this year, and is said to be likely to a total of more than $20 billion.

: The AI and data unicorn Monday that it has raised at a $134 billion valuation. The latest financing includes $5 billion in equity investment and $2 billion in debt funding. The company also said it crossed a $5.4 billion annual revenue run-rate.

: The autonomous driving company raised $16 billion in last week at a $126 billion post-money valuation.

: The payments platform a tender offer a year ago at a $91.5 billion valuation. It鈥檚 unclear what its most recent valuation would be, although market trends indicate it would likely be higher.

The next-biggest unicorns

: The blockchain and cryptocurrency company had a $40 billion valuation a in November.

: The developer of general-purpose humanoid robots a $39 billion post-money valuation for its last financing, a .

: The AI financing automation platform was at $32 billion in November, up from $22.5 billion just a few months earlier.

: The AI startup was at $32 billion as part of a in April.

: The defense tech unicorn secured at a $30.5 billion valuation in June.

: The AI processor developer picked up a round last week that聽 set a post-money valuation for the company of approximately $23 billion.

: The crypto exchange was reportedly around $20 billion after a funding round in November.

: The company known for its Cursor AI coding platform announced in November that it raised $2.3 billion in Series D funding at a $29.3 billion post-money valuation.

Gains are quite recent

Looking at the companies in both the biggest unicorns and next-biggest unicorns categories, what鈥檚 striking, in addition to the huge valuations, is how recently so many of these companies set or secured these high numbers.

Just over a year ago, SpaceX鈥檚 valuation hit $350 billion following a closely watched secondary share sale. That was considered quite high at the time.

And just 14 months ago, OpenAI鈥檚 valuation was . It was also considered quite high. Go figure.

What鈥檚 also noteworthy is that many of the next-biggest-unicorns secured their highest valuations to date in the last couple months of last year. That was prime-time for valuation escalation, perhaps in anticipation of an opening IPO window and growing investor consensus regarding early leaders in hot, emerging sectors.

Will these numbers hold up? Who knows. But one thing is clear: Anyone predicting a retraction for the 鈥渉igh鈥� valuations attributed to leading unicorns a year or two ago has so far been mostly very wrong.

Related reading:

• The 附近上门 附近上门
• Cursor鈥檚 $2.3B Financing Reminds Us: Coding Automation Is Still Ultra-Hot

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With that, here are five areas where we鈥檝e seen venture funding increase significantly in recent quarters.

Legal tech

The legal industry may have a reputation for stodginess, but when it comes to automating and streamlining, the sector has been quick on the uptake with new technologies. Venture funding to legal tech startups last year totaled more than $4 billion, per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 a record, and nearly double the $2.2 billion the sector raised a year earlier.

Some of the larger funding recipients in the space last year include:

• , which makes cloud-based practice management for law firms, raised $500 million in a -led equity round in November, plus $350 million in debt.
• , a startup that makes AI tools for lawyers, raised $819 million over the course of four funding rounds in 2025.
• , a startup that offers a legal operating platform to integrate AI for case, document and lead management, raised $260 million in a September Series E.

Robotics

Robotics 鈥� both of the humanoid and non-humanoid variety 鈥� has likewise been on a tear, as investors move beyond AI software to the physical layer of artificial intelligence.

Last year, venture funding to robotics totaled nearly $14 billion, per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 a 70% increase over 2024 and eclipses even the peak funding year of 2021.

In recent quarters, investors have backed a range of companies developing everything from robotic appendages that can be deployed on factory floors to general-purpose humanoid robots.

Among the largest robotics funding recipients in 2025 were:

• General-purpose robotics company , which raised $1 billion in a September Series C led by .
• Humanoid robotics company , raising a total of $935 million in Series A funding.
• -led brain-implant company , which raised $649 million in a March Series E.

Defense tech

Defense tech, too, saw record funding last year, as companies such as and raised massive rounds. Overall funding to the sector jumped to $8.5 billion in 2025, per 附近上门 data 鈥� an all-time high and more than double the prior year鈥檚 total.

The top defense venture funding recipients last year included:

• Southern California-based Anduril, which raised a $2.5 billion Series G in June led by .
• Germany-based Helsing raised about $693 million in a June round led by , , and other investors.
• Austin-based , a maker of unmanned maritime security vessels, raised $600 million in an -led round in February.

Venture investment in defense tech only seems poised to grow. Active investors such as have earmarked billions of dollars for defense and law enforcement-related companies, and the has said it wants to purchase and deploy more next-generation technologies such as AI-driven battlefield decision-making, autonomous drone systems and satellite reconnaissance.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity funding also increased last year, though remains off its 2021 peak. Investment in the sector globally totaled more than $18 billion in 2025, up 26% year over year, with a particularly strong showing for early-stage startups.

It was also the third-highest annual funding total to the sector in the past decade.

Among the top cybersecurity funding recipients last year:

• AI-driven data security platform , which raised a total of $940 million in the course of two rounds, its Series E and Series F.
• , another AI-based identity security platform, raised $700 million in a -led Series B.
• , a quantum computing startup with a main focus on cybersecurity, raised $600 million in an -led Series B.
• , an IT platform for endpoint management, raised $500 million in a Series C led by and .

Fintech

Funding to fintech and financial services startups rose 27% year over year to $51.8 billion, topping pre-pandemic numbers for the first time since 2022. (However, it鈥檚 worth noting that 2025鈥檚 sum is still a fraction of the 2021 peak.)

Among the largest fintech funding recipients globally last year were:

• Predictions marketplace , which raised $150 million in a -led round, followed soon after by $2 billion in a deal led by .
• Cryptocurrency exchange raised $2 billion in March in an -led deal.
• , another predictions marketplace, raised $1 billion in a November round led by , and.

Investors we spoke with said they expect to see fintech-related funding and exit activity remain strong this year.

Another trend to keep an eye on: Strong funding for pre-IPO companies such as , , or . 鈥淭he story of fintech funding this year will probably be dominated by those $100M+ rounds as these companies get ready to go public,鈥� , general partner of , told us last month.

Related 附近上门 queries:

Related reading:

• Legal Tech Investment Hits All-Time High With Filevine Funding
• Robotics Funding Crests Higher As Figure Lands Another $1B
• Sector Snapshot: Defense Tech Funding Hits Record High
• Fintech Funding Jumped 27% In 2025 With Fewer Deals But Bigger Checks
• It Was A Big Year For Cybersecurity

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Correction: Apptronik’s funding amount was updated.

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

This week鈥檚 largest fundraising recipient was frontier AI lab , and agentic AI, AI-compute, and AI-native startups filled up much of the rest of the Top 10 list. Other areas that attracted sizable funding include biotech, nuclear power, and security.

1.听, $300M, AI: , a frontier AI lab, announced that it has raised $300 million in a Series A round of funding at a $4 billion valuation. led the latest round, which comes just two months after the Palo Alto, California-based company鈥檚 launch.

2.听, $257M, biotech: Cellares, a startup focused on the automated, large-scale manufacturing of cell therapies, said it secured $257 million in a Series D financing led by and . Founded in 2019, South San Francisco, California-based Cellares has raised $612 million to date.

3 (tied). , $250M, cloud security: Cloud security unicorn Upwind Security closed on $250 million in Series B funding led by . The round brings total investment for the San Francisco-headquartered company to over $430 million.聽

3 (tied). , $250M, AI agents: San Francisco-based Decagon, a developer of AI tools for customer service, raised for $250 million in new funding. and led the round, which tripled Decagon鈥檚 valuation to $4.5 billion in under six months.

5.听, $150M, AI compute: PaleBlueDot AI, an AI compute platform founded in 2024, announced that it completed a $150 million Series B financing, valuing the company at over $1 billion. led the financing for the Palo Alto, California-based company.聽

6.听, $140M, nuclear power: Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based Standard Nuclear, a provider of advanced nuclear fuel, raised $140 million in a Series A round led by and joined by a long list of new and existing investors. The company said it will use the financing to expand annual production to more than two metric tons by mid-2026.

7.听, $100M, space tech: Northwood Space, a startup focused on improving ground infrastructure for space missions, landed $100 million in Series B funding. and led the financing for the Southern California-based company, which was founded in 2023.

8 (tied).聽, $75M, agentic AI: Rogo, developer of an agentic AI system for financial workflows, raised $75 million in a Series C financing led by . The New York-based startup is also opening its first international office in London, with plans to expand into Europe.

8 (tied).聽, $75M, crypto payments: San Francisco-based crypto payments network Mesh picked up $75 million in Series C funding led by . Its platform enables consumers to make payments with a range of cryptocurrencies, with merchants receiving instant settlement in their preferred stablecoin.

10 (tied).聽, $60M, health insurance: Austin-based Gyde, an AI-native insurance brokerage platform, launched with $60 million in initial funding led by .听听

10 (tied).聽, $60M, biotech: Breakthru Medicine, a startup focused on therapies for cancer patients, emerged from stealth with $60 million in Series A financing.

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In December alone, 23 companies joined The 附近上门 附近上门, more than doubling the count from a year ago.

The value of the unicorn board also picked up significantly in the final month of the year, with the highest-ever value accorded to a private company. That was , which vaulted to the top of the list when it was valued at $800 billion in a secondary market transaction, double its valuation from just three months earlier.

And , the seventh-most highly valued private company at $134 billion, was also valued up from its $100 billion valuation months earlier.

New unicorns in December

Of the new unicorns last month, 15 were U.S.-based, two hail from China, and six are based in Europe, including two from the U.K. and one each from Germany, France, Finland and Belgium.

Financial services, aerospace and AI led with the highest count of new companies to join.

It is worth noting that a third of these companies were more than 10 years old, with some seeing a reacceleration in their business driven by AI.

On the other end of the spectrum, the fastest to reach unicorn status in December was , which raised its seed round at a $4.5 billion value.

Here are December’s 23 newly minted unicorns.

Fintech

• Crypto-focused digital bank , co-founded by , raised a $350 million funding led by . The company was granted conditional approval by the 聽 in late 2025. The 1-year-old Columbus, Ohio-based company plans to support technology businesses in AI, crypto and defense, and was valued at $4.35 billion.
• , developer of AI-driven insurance for the trucking industry, raised a $100 million Series D led by . The 5-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• , a loan provider for outdoor equipment, RVs and power sports raised a $100 million Series F led by . The funding was part equity and part secondary financing. The 11-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.3 billion and has generated over $7.5 billion in loans.
• , a provider of co-branded credit cards and payment plans for brands to build loyalty, raised a $150 million Series D led by . The 5-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Aerospace

• , a builder of powerful satellites, raised a $250 million Series C led by . The 3-year-old Torrance, California-based company was valued at $3 billion.
• Finland-based , which operates satellites for military and commercial intelligence, raised a $175 million Series E led by . The 12-year-old company was valued at $2.8 billion.
• , a provider of satellites detecting radio frequency emissions for the U.S. government and its partners, raised a $150 million Series E led by and at a value of $1 billion. As part of the deal, the 10-year-old Herndon, Virginia-based company acquired .

AI

• , a new startup from founder that was acquired by Databricks, plans to build an energy-efficient computer for AI. The company raised a $475 million seed round led by and . The less than 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $4.5 billion.
• , a generative AI company for video and images, raised a $300 million Series B led by and 1. The 1-year-old Germany-based company was valued at $3.3 billion.
• , builder of AI models for molecule programming, raised a $130 million Series B led by General Catalyst and . The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.

Energy

• Energy software provider , raised a $1 billion funding led by , with plans to separate from its parent, . The 6-year-old London-based company was valued at $8.7 billion.
• , a builder of nuclear microreactors, raised a $300 million Series D led by and . The 6-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $1.8 billion.

E-commerce

• B2B chemical and industrial materials supply chain company raised a $10 million Series B led by and . The 11-year-old Beijing-based company was valued at $2.3 billion.
• , a luxury automotive e-commerce platform, raised funding from collector from his family office . The 40-year-old Miami-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Marketing

• Customer relationship marketing service , which manages a CRM and communication across emails through to messaging and aided by AI, raised a $583 million private equity round led by and . The 18-year-old Paris-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• Synthetic AI marketing research company 聽 raised a Series A led by reported to be above $50 million . The funding was raised at different valuations, giving investors access at a lower value for part of the funding. The 1-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion.

DevOps

• , an IT ticketing management platform reimagined with AI, raised a $75 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• Site reliability platform raised a Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.聽 The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion in a two-tiered round with investors getting access at a lower valuation for part of the funding.

Social media

• The social media giant TikTok spun out its , valued at $14 billion. The Bellevue, Washington-based company鈥檚 new owners Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each own 15% of the new entity, while retains an ownership stake of 20%.

Security

• Identity security company , which manages security for individuals through to AI agents, raised a $700 million Series B led by . The 16-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $3 billion.

Defense

• Counter drone defense technology deployer raised a $210 million Series B. Investors were not disclosed.聽 The 4-year-old London-based company was valued at $1.8 billion.

IoT

• , an IoT sensor technology for maintaining industrial machines, raised a $23 million funding from existing investors. The 22-year-old Belgium-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Healthcare

• , a medical device company targeting heart disease, raised a Series D led by and . The 6-year-old Shanghai-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Related 附近上门 unicorn lists:

• (1,669)
• (186)
• (115)
• (102)
• (856)
• (493)
• (225)
• (38)
• (471)

Related reading:

• Exclusive: AI Insurance Startup Nirvana Nearly Doubles Valuation To $1.5B with $100M Series D
• Exclusive: Octane Lands $100M Series F At $1.3B Valuation To Help People Finance Large Lifestyle And Recreational Purchases

Methodology

The 附近上门 附近上门 is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on 附近上门 data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations 鈥� such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options 鈥� as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

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