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.

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For venture firms, landing early investments in these companies is one of the clearest signals of long-term performance. An analysis of 附近上门 data shows and once again dominated the latest unicorn cohort, backing the most deals in companies that reached billion-dollar valuations in 2025.

But 附近上门 data also highlights a set of rising investors 鈥� including , 1, , 2听补苍诲 鈥� that appear to be gaining ground in the race to fund the next wave of category leaders.

Unicorns advance

Last year was a strong one for new unicorns 鈥� well above the post-pandemic lull and slightly ahead of pre-pandemic norms. The pace of new unicorn creation also picked up each quarter in 2025 and has shown no signs of slowing in 2026, per 附近上门 data.

Trending investors

AI-native companies accounted for 47 of last year鈥檚 new unicorns, or 25% of the total, and that percentage seems likely to grow in 2026 as companies in that sector continue to draw significant investment.

Notably, nearly half of the new unicorns are also very young: 94 of them are less than 5 years old.

The most-active investors in terms of deal count in last year鈥檚 new unicorn class were two VC heavyweights: Sequoia and a16z, which made 51 investments across 21 and 20 companies, respectively.

Notable investments for Sequoia 鈥� where the firm led early at seed or Series A rounds and continued to back later rounds 鈥� include , a clinician-focused medical AI platform, prediction markets platform , and frontier intelligence lab .

For Andreessen, three of its most-notable investments were for automated coding platform , health customer support service , and , which provides AI for customer support.

Following those two firms, was a close third with 49 investments across 23 companies, which was the highest count of companies for an investor in the unicorn class. Its聽 investments include trucking insurance startup , , an expert training data platform for AI, and , a frontier lab for visual content.

, and rounded out the leading six unicorn investors of 2025, with 37, 36 and 34 deals, respectively. Portfolio companies where these firms led early and kept investing include:

• Accel: (VPN network provider), (AI-powered presentations) and (visual website design platform).
• Y Combinator: (app development platform), (legal AI research service) and聽 (industrial inspections).
• Lightspeed: (commercial trucking insurance), (AI for large enterprises) and for (agentic AI).

Rounding out the top 10 were with 28 investments, seed investor 3听补苍诲 growth investor , each with 23 and 22 deals, respectively.

Ribbit Capital and Felicis shared the top 10 spot, each with 20 deals.

Newer entrants

What’s compelling is not just the investors with a track record of backing formidable companies, but those that have climbed the ranks by identifying the next wave early.

The investors in the 2025 class of billion-dollar startups include quite a few firms who were not in the overall top 20 investors for current private unicorn companies.

附近上门 data shows Redpoint, and moved up from the top 30 while Ribbit Capital, Felicis and 8VC made their move from the top 50.

, the single corporate investor on this list, and both moved up from the top 60.

vaulted up to the top 20 from the 175th-ranked investor slot in current unicorns. Its thesis is to invest in technical founders in applications, models, tools and infrastructure, and includes video and image generator , customer data platform , and workflow documentation platform .

Higher values, faster cycles

In 2025, The 附近上门 附近上门 expanded in both company count and total value as cloud and AI continued to unlock new opportunities. The leading companies have decisively separated from the pack, with billions in revenue and a strong runway.

The race to back the next generation of companies defining new opportunities has accelerated, but markets are moving faster than ever. Cutting-edge companies in today’s market risk being taken over by AI developments which erode their advantage and wipe away their lead.

Investors who want to back the next market winners need to keep investing.

Related 附近上门 unicorn lists:

• (1,712)
• (604)
• (68)
• (187)
• (117)
• (102)
• (884)
• (501)
• (230)
• (38)
• (470)

Related reading:

• 附近上门 Data: The AI Boom Has Drastically Changed Who鈥檚 Funding The Hottest Companies In 2025 Vs. 2021
• Hottest Deals In Tech Push 附近上门 附近上门 Toward $7T In Value
• What We Learned From 6 Active AI Investors Backing Startups Across The Stack
• Global Venture Funding In 2025 Surged As Startup Deals And Valuations Set All-Time Records

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.

Deal counts reported here reflect deals disclosed in 附近上门. 附近上门, like all databases of private-market transactions, has a documented pattern of reporting delays. It can sometimes take between weeks and months for some rounds to be announced publicly and subsequently get added to 附近上门. As data is added to 附近上门 over time, some of the numbers in this report may shift.

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.

Illustration:

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.

Illustration:

led the financing, which included participation from , , , and 1聽, among others. The capital was raised at a $5.3 billion valuation, up from $3.3 billion at the time of its $308 million Series D round last April, which was also led by General Atlantic.

In total, the New York-based startup has raised $860 million since its 2018 inception.

Runway describes itself as an applied AI research company building world models for , as well as 鈥渃utting-edge鈥� video generation models that it says are used by tens of millions of consumers and enterprises. Put more simply, the company makes software that enables users to create videos using text prompts or images. Last year, Runway unveiled its new AI model, , which can create videos with consistent characters and backgrounds. It continues to iterate on that model.

Its funding round is another example of robust investor interest in video AI startups. Global funding for AI-related video companies in 2025 totaled $3.08 billion, per 附近上门 . That鈥檚 up 94.6% from the $1.58 billion raised by AI-related video startups in 2024. is another example of a company in the space that raised a large round in 2025 鈥� that was announced in November at a $4 billion valuation.

From film studios to fintech

Runway declined to reveal revenue figures, with Michelle Kwon, head of operations and partnerships, telling 附近上门 News only that the startup is 鈥済rowing extremely fast.鈥� The company sells its product on a subscription basis, with various pricing tiers for individual subscriptions and a per-seat model for enterprises.

Its customers are in a wide range of industries and include 鈥渆very major film studio,鈥� according to Kwon, in addition to advertising and marketing firms and in-house creative teams, ad and marketing teams, gaming companies and architecture firms. Its customers include , , , , , , , , , and .

Runway is increasingly working with robotics and autonomous vehicle companies, as its models 鈥渋mprove their ability to simulate real-world environments,鈥� Kwon told 附近上门 News.

鈥淲e鈥檝e continued to release industry-leading generative video models, including our latest, while also pushing further into world models, which we believe will be key to solving humanity鈥檚 hardest problems across fields like medicine, climate, energy and robotics,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e also expanded our compute infrastructure, in part through an with .鈥�

Runway plans to use its new capital to scale its research and products as it aims to sign larger enterprise contracts.

鈥淲e’ll expand our research capacity and compute infrastructure with an eye on building more capable world models, and continue to develop products on top of those models,鈥� Kwon said. 鈥淭his new money allows us to scale further and faster, both in terms of frontier research and in how we productize that research.鈥�

Runway also continues to boost headcount across all areas, but particularly research, engineering and go-to-market, she added.

Related 附近上门 query:

Related reading:

• AI Image Startup Runway Raises At $3B

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.

The pace of big funding rounds continued to hold up at brisk levels this past week, led by a $1.4 billion financing for 鈥渞obot brain鈥� developer . More big rounds went to startups in sectors including AI chips, brain-computer interfaces, defense tech, biotech and airplanes, among others.

1. , $1.4B, robotics: Skild AI, a robotics company building an 鈥渙mni-bodied鈥� brain to operate any robot for any task, announced it raised $1.4 billion, tripling its valuation to over $14 billion. led the Pittsburgh-based startup鈥檚 latest financing, which comes just over seven months after it raised a at a $4.5 billion valuation.

2. , $500M, AI and semiconductors: Etched.ai, a startup working on chips for AI superintelligence, reportedly $500 million in new funding. led the financing, which was said to set a $5 billion valuation for the Silicon Valley-based company.

3. , $252M, brain-computer interfaces: Merge Labs, a -founded startup based in San Francisco, which is working on brain-computer interfaces that interact with the brain at high bandwidth and integrate with advanced AI, reportedly locked up a $252 million seed round. According to reports, was the largest backer.

4. , $250M, biotech: San Diego-based Mirador Therapeutics, a precision medicine startup developing therapies for immune-mediated inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, it closed on $250 million in Series B funding. The company said the round brings total capital raised to more than $650 million since it launched in March 2024.

5. (tied) , $200M, defense tech: Defense tech startup Onebrief has raised another $200 million and reportedly acquired a small battle simulation company, . and led the Series D funding for Honolulu-based Onebrief, which makes AI-driven collaborative and planning software used for military operations.

5. (tied) , $200M, media: , an Ethereum treasury company, that it made a $200 million equity investment into Beast Industries 鈥� also known as MrBeast 鈥� the Greenville, South Carolina-based entertainment and consumer products company founded by creator .

7. , $175M, aerospace: Long Beach, California-based JetZero, a developer of planes with much higher fuel efficiency and lower carbon emissions than existing commercial airliners, picked up $175 million in Series B financing led by . Founded in 2020, JetZero says it is looking to enter commercial service in the early 2030s.

8. , $143M, voice AI: Deepgram, an API platform for voice AI, secured $130 million in Series C funding led by at a $1.3 billion valuation. San Francisco-based Deepgram also announced that it acquired , an AI voice platform for restaurants and drive-thru operators.

9. , $136M, defense tech: Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Defense Unicorns, a provider of software delivery for national security mission systems, locked up $136 million in a Series B round led by .

10. (tied) , $120M, robotics: Mytra, a developer of industrial robotics technology for warehouse operations, raised $120 million in a Series C round led by . Founded in 2022, Brisbane, California-based Mytra has raised close to $200 million to date, .

10. (tied) , $120M, AI for manufacturers: Boston-based Tulip Interfaces, a developer of AI-enabled tools for manufacturers to digitize processes and improve production, says it secured $120 million in Series D funding backed by .

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 Jan. 10-16. 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:

For years, industry observers have predicted an uptick in startup M&A activity, in part due to the limited number of companies going public. As the IPO dam finally broke in 2025, we didn鈥檛 see a huge surge in M&A dealmaking, but we did see a large spike in the known value of M&A deals.

Globally, in 2025 so far, there have been around 2,300 M&A deals involving venture-backed companies with a collective known deal value of more than $214 billion, per 附近上门 . (It must be noted that most of the reported M&A deals do not have amounts, so the dollar amount is based only on the deals in which a value was provided.)

Interestingly, deal count was only up slightly, signaling much larger deal sizes. The dollar amount is up from a known value of $112 billion in 2024, for an impressive 91% increase.

The trend was similar in the United States, which dominated M&A activity, comprising about 73% of all transaction values and 56% of transactions alone, globally.

There was a known value of $157 billion across nearly 1,300 deals, compared with a known $79 billion across about 1,100 transactions in the U.S. in 2024. Around 37 of those deals were valued at $1 billion or more, per 附近上门 .

, technology, media and telecoms deal advisory and strategy leader for , is not surprised by the uptick in M&A deal volume and dollars.

鈥淎 healthy IPO market tends to increase M&A activity rather than reduce it,鈥� he told 附近上门 News. 鈥淢any companies pursue dual-track strategies, simultaneously preparing for an IPO while exploring M&A, which gives them greater flexibility and leverage in negotiations. The threat of a public offering can be used as a bargaining chip to drive up a startup’s sale price.鈥�

On top of that, he points out, a strong IPO market creates a new wave of cash-rich public companies that 鈥渋mmediately look to acquisitions to accelerate their growth,鈥� ultimately stimulating M&A demand.

Larger deals tick up

$32 billion purchase of cloud security unicorn marked the largest acquisition of a private, venture-backed U.S. company, not just this year so far, but ever. The next-closest deal historically, per 附近上门 data, was 鈥檚 2014 acquisition of for $19 billion. Still, that deal alone wasn鈥檛 responsible for the large increase in value of M&A transactions this year.

The next-closest deal in 2025 was 鈥檚 $10.3 billion buy of South Korea fintech . After that came 鈥檚 $8.87 billion acquisition of .

In fact, M&A exit numbers this year are the highest ever for unicorn companies, with 36 deals in 2025 totaling $67 billion in value.

Other large transactions included:

• In late May, quietly announced its $6.5 billion acquisition of , a little-known but highly technical company focused on model deployment and orchestration.
• In March, it would acquire chip design company , in a $6.2 billion cash transaction.
• In December, , the company behind social media platform , announced plans to combine with fusion company . The two signed a merger agreement to combine in what TMTG called a stock transaction valued at more than $6 billion
• Healthcare software platform in March sold a majority stake to at a reported value of $5.3 billion.

Strategic plays and a flurry of acqui-hires

, technology sector leader, believes that strategic plays drove 2025鈥檚 M&A surge far more than distressed sales.

鈥淐orporations聽are writing big checks for AI, cybersecurity, data acquisitions, and massive tech and talent deals,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese tech and talent deals used to be worth tens of millions, and now we are in the billions.鈥�

Indeed, fear of missing out appeared to be a driving factor in a lot of M&A activity, especially when it came to AI. The sector also drove a flurry of acqui-hires.

鈥淥n the one hand, big corporates are snapping up seed/Series A startups for talent and tech 鈥� we can call that the AI acqui-hire trend. Many teams with fewer than 100 employees have landed $100 million-plus exits,鈥� Hoebarth said. 鈥淥n the other hand, a cohort of聽3-聽to聽6-year-old unicorns that stalled on IPO plans is finally selling.鈥�

Looking ahead to 2026, he predicts that acquirers will likely increasingly focus on earlier plays 鈥� scooping up emerging tech before it scales, especially聽in high-growth sectors like AI and cybersecurity.

, co-founder of and a corporate attorney for startups and small businesses, agrees that more acquisitions are happening at seed and Series A, but believes that more value is being transacted at later stages.

鈥淎cquirers are buying at an earlier stage to speed up to capability rather than build internally, as hiring the same team individually is slower and riskier,鈥� she noted. 鈥淪eed and Series A founders are more willing to sell in light of the current financing environment and the fact that there is less stigma around a really early exit at present.鈥�

Unless the financing environment picks up evenly for early-stage seed and Series A companies, she expects this trend to continue.

AI vs. everything else

Not only did the ultra-competitive environment, especially in the AI and cybersecurity industries, drive more acqui-hires, but talent also played a larger role than ever in determining transaction value.

, owner of Israel-based , believes that in 2025, pricing has effectively been split into two markets: AI and everything else.

鈥淚n AI, talent and IP value often dominate, including outsized acqui-hires that would be irrational in other sectors,鈥� he said.

However, in non-AI tech, pricing remains anchored in revenue multiples and public comparables, heavily influenced by unit economics and operational KPIs.

鈥淟ooking into 2026, I expect greater financial discipline across all sectors, including AI, with stronger emphasis on sustainable P&Ls and defensible unit economics,鈥� he predicted.

KPMG鈥檚 Bahal said that while traditional valuation metrics such as revenue multiples still play a role, acquisition prices are increasingly being dictated by the strategic value of a company鈥檚 talent and its intellectual property.

鈥淭his fundamental shift toward valuing people and technology over pure revenue is the new reality in dealmaking, especially as the 鈥榓cqui-hire鈥� trend accelerates to secure top engineering talent in high-demand fields like AI,鈥� he said.

Unlike Sagie, he thinks this trend is not temporary.

鈥淚t is expected to intensify through 2026 as the war for talent and unique technological capabilities continues to be a primary driver of value,鈥� he predicted.

M&A driven by down rounds

Talent and technology weren鈥檛 the only things driving M&A activity.

In Hoebarth鈥檚 view, the most common trigger聽event聽in 2025 was a funding crunch. Because there is so much money flowing into AI companies, it can be easy to forget that a lot of other sectors are struggling.

鈥淢any founders opted to be acquired when facing a down round or failed raise,鈥� Hoebarth said. 鈥淲e聽saw startup down rounds hit a decade high 鈥� about聽16% of deals 鈥斅爐his year, so rather than accept significant dilution, founders聽did a聽pivot to M&A. These down rounds get lost in the broader AI narrative, which continues to be very positive, for now.鈥�

Mignano agrees. In 2025, the most common practical trigger that pushed early-stage founders to sell wasn鈥檛 a single dramatic event but a confluence of many, she said.

Those events include the inability to raise the next round at all or on good terms. If an AI company, the AI technology was not defensible “enough” to get it to the next round, and founder fatigue after a number of years where they have been financially strapped.

Another factor?

鈥淓xpansion and increased revenue metrics require a capital-intensive GTM build that the current investors won鈥檛 fund and that a possible acquirer may fund post-acquisition,鈥� Mignano noted.

Looking ahead

So what鈥檚 ahead for 2026?

Bahal believes that the trajectory of the M&A market in 2026 will be determined by the overall health and stability of the economy.

鈥淎 bull case would be fueled by the need to continue the digital transformation of every business, a favorable regulatory environment, falling interest rates and continued economic growth, which would give dealmakers the confidence to pursue strategic acquisitions, particularly in technology and AI,鈥� he said.

Conversely, Bahal believes that a bear case would emerge from an economic downturn, marked by higher inflation or increased regulatory scrutiny and increased geopolitical uncertainty, creating headwinds that would cause both buyers and sellers to pause dealmaking.

Hoebarth notes that EY-Parthenon Americas is forecasting a modest increase in M&A activity in聽2026, and definitely lower than what occurred this year. The U.S. M&A deal volume is expected to grow聽about聽3%, following a 9% increase in 2025, according to their data.

In his view, bull case聽factors include easing monetary policy and continued lower interest rates, strong corporate balance sheets, significant private equity dry powder, and continued innovation in high-growth sectors like AI and cybersecurity.

Hoebarth believes that bear case factors include an聽economic downturn,聽trade and tariff uncertainty,聽tight funding markets limiting liquidity, and increased regulatory scrutiny, especially in China, the EU and the U.K., or geopolitical barriers slowing deal approvals.

鈥淭he elephant in the room聽is still the question of聽what happens with AI,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do see early signs of a pullback in the AI space, which would have ripple effects far beyond the tech ecosystem.鈥�

Sagie believes that if the macro environment 鈥渟tops getting in the way, M&A activity will take care of itself.鈥�

鈥淟ower and more predictable interest rates, fewer regulatory surprises, and easing trade tensions would give boards and buyers the confidence to plan again,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen that happens, consolidation comes back naturally, not because companies are desperate, but because buying becomes a faster and less risky way to grow than building from scratch.鈥�

The bear case is not about technology suddenly breaking, Sagie points out.

鈥淚t is about hesitation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f rates stay high, geopolitical noise continues, or capital markets remain jumpy, buyers slow down. Decisions take longer, deals get smaller, and only the transactions with a very clear strategic rationale actually close. What separates the two is confidence. When executives believe they can underwrite the next three to five years with some degree of certainty, M&A moves quickly. When that confidence is missing, even good assets struggle to transact.鈥�

Related 附近上门 queries:

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• M&A The Highest On Record For Unicorn Exits In 2025
• With 骋辞辞驳濒别鈥檚 $32B Bid For Wiz, Big Exits Are Finally Picking Up
• Why More Startups Are Buying Other Startups in 2025

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It looks like this year was a boom period for the latter category. Forty-six companies founded in the past three years both held or obtained unicorn status in 2025 and raised fresh funding, per 附近上门 data. (See full list .) Collectively, they pulled in nearly $39 billion in new investment this year.

Predictably, it鈥檚 an AI-centric group. The three most highly valued among recently funded unicorns 1 founded in the past three years 鈥� , and 鈥� are all generative AI companies. Overall, a whopping 36 out of the 46 companies on the list are in AI industry categories.

The heady sums the most sought-after startups are raising these days can lead one to forget just how young many of these businesses really are. But really, even by startup standards, these are fresh-faced newbies.

Take xAI. Founder made the first public announcement about it in July 2023 鈥� less than two-and-half years ago. Since then it鈥檚 raised more than $12 billion in venture funding as well as billions more in combined debt and equity financings.

Or consider , founded in April 2023. In that short time, the Paris-based generative AI unicorn has raised over $3 billion and a $14 billion valuation.

, the startup founded by former chief scientist is an even faster climber. Founded just 18 months ago, it’s already raised at least $3 billion in known funding. On a similar note, , co-founded by onetime CTO , launched just 10 months ago and has already picked up $2 billion.

Young companies raised record sums in megarounds this year

The numbers illustrate a rising trend in the AI startup era: An increasing share of venture funding is going to young companies raising megarounds.

To quantify this, we used 附近上门 data to tally the number and total value of rounds of $100 million or more to companies less than three years old at the time. The results, charted below, show that 2025 is a record-setting year for total funding to this category.

Strikingly, more than $115 billion has gone to these megarounds for younger companies this year 鈥� exceeding the prior high mark during the 2021 market peak. The largesse is being spread across fewer rounds, however, with concentration among the hottest AI upstarts.

Not just GenAI (although that is where the most funding is going)

Still, it would be inaccurate to walk away with the impression that giant rounds for nascent startups are solely a GenAI thing.

In sectors including robotics, energy tech and storage, we鈥檙e seeing capital pile up. Robotics was a particularly active area, with , and all scoring large rounds.

鈥� provider of residential battery backup systems 鈥� is another fast-scaling newcomer. And cloud backup provider , founded less than two years ago, has already raised $300 million.

Pick early, invest generously

Young startups securing more giant rounds signals that venture investors are looking to bet early and big. Having identified who they perceive as the most promising founders and what they see as the leading areas for scalable innovation, they鈥檙e not waiting around or taking incremental steps.

Of course, it鈥檚 to be expected that not all these wagers will work out. But it鈥檚 also likely that at least a few will grow into something remarkable, if they haven鈥檛 already.

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• Thinking Machines Lab鈥檚 $2B Seed Round Is Biggest By A Long Shot

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So, there鈥檚 no hyperbole in stating that , the company behind social media platform , is breaking new ground with this morning鈥檚 that it plans to combine with fusion company .

The two signed a merger agreement to combine in what TMTG called a stock transaction valued at more than $6 billion. Once the deal closes, it says, shareholders of each company will own approximately half of the combined company.

So far, public investors seem to like the proposal, with shares of Trump Media closing up 42% on Thursday. That said, shares are well below where the company made its debut in March, 2024 following a SPAC merger, with its latest market cap around $4 billion.

But while markets may favor the deal now, no one would describe it as an obvious match-up. And with media insiders, energy tech aficionados and the general public all broadly scratching their heads about how to put this deal in context, we looked to see if 附近上门 data could offer relevant background.

Turns out, while we didn鈥檛 see this one coming, funding data does show the fusion space continuing to attract megarounds, with TAE exhibiting several characteristics that differentiate it from the competition.

Here are some of findings on both TAE specifically and fusion startup funding more broadly:

• Founded in 1998, Foothill Ranch, California-based TAE is the oldest operating venture-backed fusion energy company in the 附近上门 dataset. The next-oldest is British Columbia-based , founded in 2002.
• To date, TAE has raised close to $1.5 billion in known equity funding. It raised its most recent round 鈥� a $150 million venture financing 鈥� in June with backing from , and .
• In the past five years, fusion-focused startups have raised more than $7 billion in venture funding, per . Of that, a little less than half has closed in the past two years.
• A handful of fusion startups have secured a big chunk of funding to the space. Besides TAE, the most heavily funded are ($2.86 billion in equity funding), ($1 billion),聽 ($900 million), and General Fusion ($357 million).
• This year, the standout for funding was Commonwealth Fusion, which raised $863 million in an August Series B2 round. The Devens, Massachusetts-based company also said it is moving closer to being the first in the world to commercialize fusion power.
• Everett, Washington-based Helion Energy also locked up a $425 million Series F early this year as it looks to commercialize its fusion technology.

Do any of these findings explain why you should have had Truth Social merging with a Google-backed fusion company on your bingo card for 2025? Probably not. But they do at least offer support for the notion that Trump Media is entering a space that鈥檚 attracted a lot of capital of late from a lot of known smart money investors.

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A total of $1.6 trillion of value was added to the board this year, which lists the most highly valued, private, venture-backed startups in the world. That increase marks the second-largest valuation boost in a year 鈥� following only 2021 鈥� an analysis of 附近上门 data shows.

is the most highly valued private company at $500 billion, followed by owner , valued at $480 billion. Up next is at $400 billion, and at $183 billion. All four of these companies were valued in the second half of 2025, with the leading three via secondary sales to provide liquidity to employees or investors.

Those deals triggered a major reshuffling at the top of the board this year. A year ago, the highest-valued unicorn was ByteDance at $220 billion, followed by OpenAI at $157 billion. Newcomers to the top 10 this year include Anthropic, now the fourth-most valuable, and fintech decacorn with a valuation of $75 billion placing it in the No. 9 spot.

At the end of 2024, there were 70 startups on the board valued at $10 billion or more. There are now 82 such decacorns, 24 of which joined this year. Five decacorn startups also exited the board this year via IPOs or acquisitions, six companies were downgraded in value below $10 billion, and one merged with another decacorn .

The board added $1.6T

At the end of 2024, The 附近上门 附近上门 was valued around $5.4 trillion collectively. It鈥檚 now approaching $7 trillion in total value 鈥� marking the second-largest valuation spike in a year, following 2021. That year, the board gained $2 trillion in valuation 鈥� excluding those that exited 鈥� to close at $4 trillion.

The valuation increases seen this year and in 2021 are massive compared to most years. Even last year, as AI investment surged, the board added around $400 billion by year end. In 2023, around $100 billion was added for still-private companies on the board.

Hottest valuations in 2025

Below are the 36 private companies that achieved the largest valuations in a funding in 2025. Of these companies, 40% reached decacorn-plus valuations in less than five years from founding 鈥� some in even less time 鈥� with their rapid valuation increases driven by the AI wave.

Reached in less than one year:

• : $32 billion
• : $12 billion

Reached in less than two years:

• : $10 billion

Reached in less than three years:

• : $14 billion
• : $10 billion
• : $10 billion

Reached in less than four years:

• : $39 billion
• : $29 billion
• : $20 billion
• : $11 billion

Reached in less than five years:

• : $183 billion
• : $14 billion
• : $11 billion
• : $10 billion

New unicorn counts and exits were also up this year, back to pre-pandemic levels, after a slower few years in 2024 and 2023. In the new year, we will report on the 2025 unicorn cohort, the investors who made their bets early, and those that invested in rounds with massive valuation hikes this year.

Related 附近上门 unicorn lists:

• (1,640)
• (147)
• (113)
• (102)
• (819)
• (494)
• (220)
• (38)
• (469)

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• Unicorns Pick Up For The Second Month In A Row, Adding Close To $45B To The Board
• In The Space Of Months, AI Funding Boom Adds More Than $500B In Value To 附近上门 And Reshuffles Top 20
• The MVPs Of The Startup World Are Still Getting More Valuable

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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