Sounds simple enough. But there鈥檚 a twist: What if a lot of well-capitalized investors identify those same founders around the same time?

In that case, being early can still have advantages. However, it can also be very expensive.

That鈥檚 a dynamic we鈥檙e seeing more of at seed and Series A. The number of unusually large rounds at these stages has been creeping up in recent quarters 1, with this deal type particularly prominent in the first weeks of this year.

To illustrate, we used 附近上门 data to tally up rounds of $100 million or more at seed and Series A for the past few years.

As you can see, jumbo seed and Series A deals have been a thing for years. Frequency grew around the 2021 market peak then tailed off over the next couple years. It started picking up again in 2024.

This year, these rounds are making a particularly pronounced comeback. Per 附近上门 data, over 40% of seed and Series A investment in 2026 has gone to rounds of $100 million or more. That鈥檚 strikingly high, especially considering that mega-rounds at these stages weren鈥檛 much of a thing for most of startup investment history.

While we see giant rounds globally, they’re more prevalent for U.S. startups. Per 附近上门 data, over half of all seed and Series funding this year has gone to financings of $100 million and up.

Big early bets

In a finding that will surprise no one, data shows a preponderance of early-stage mega-rounds are going to AI startups.

That鈥檚 clearly the case for this year鈥檚 biggest example, last week鈥檚 $480 million seed financing for , an AI lab that says it will apply the technology in ways that are centered 鈥渁round people and their relationships with each other.鈥� The company was founded in September by top researchers from , , , and .

It鈥檚 also true for , a frontier AI lab that announced on Monday that it has raised $300 million in a Series A round at a $4 billion valuation. And for , a -founded startup working on brain-computer interfaces that integrate with advanced AI, which reportedly locked up a $252 million seed round, with OpenAI as a major backer.

Another big fundraiser was Abu Dhabi-based , an AI-powered Islamic digital banking platform. The startup $230 million in its first funding round this month, led by . Another, , an AI networking infrastructure startup, closed on $200 million in Series A financing last week.

Below, we put together a full list of rounds of $100 million or more this year.

From quirky to qualified

The classic seed round, commonly in the low single-digit millions, hasn鈥檛 gone away of course. For every supergiant seed deal, there are dozens of smaller ones in a typical month.

Even so, the stereotype of a round at this stage 鈥� a small, risky bet on an unproven founder 鈥� may need some updating. While these deals still happen, a greater share of funding appears to be going to very proven innovators and serial entrepreneurs.

Is that a positive or negative development? I suppose a case could be made either way. Good or bad however, it鈥檚 certainly gotten costlier for those writing the checks.

Related 附近上门 query:

Illustration:

In total, investors put $63.1 billion into reported seed through growth-stage rounds for U.S. and Canadian companies in Q3, per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 up incrementally from the prior quarter. However, it鈥檚 far above year-ago levels, with more than $20 billion in additional funding.

The high funding level was the result of bigger rounds, not more of them. For Q3, 2,276 reported rounds got added to the 附近上门 dataset 1, down a bit from the prior quarter and far below year-ago levels.

Round counts were down at all stages except later stage.

In addition to being more highly concentrated, the past quarter鈥檚 dealmaking was heavily AI-centric. Per 附近上门 data, roughly 57% of all North American funding went to companies in AI-related categories. This included the quarter鈥檚 largest round, a $13 billion Series F for , which alone accounted for more than a fifth of total startup investment in the region last quarter.

Of course, headline-grabbing gargantuan rounds weren鈥檛 the only trends to watch. We also saw an uptick in funding at early stage, and exit activity was reasonably strong, lifted by 鈥檚 splashy market debut in late July.

Below, we look at funding for each stage in greater detail, and also take a look at AI-related investment and standout exits.

Table of contents

• Late stage and technology growth
• Early stage
• Seed stage
• AI in Q3
• Exits: IPOs and M&A
• Not slowing down
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Late stage and technology growth

Late-stage dealmaking was up sequentially in Q3, so we鈥檒l start there.

Altogether, an estimated $42.9 billion went to late-stage and technology growth financings last quarter. As charted below, it was the third-highest tally in the past five quarters.

The aforementioned Anthropic megaround went a long way to boosting the totals. And while no other deal came close in size, there were also some other big rounds in mix.

, a developer of AI processors, closed out the quarter by raising $1.1 billion in Series G funding, later withdrawing plans for an anticipated IPO. Next were humanoid robotics startup and quantum computing company , both of which secured $1 billion financings.

Early stage

It was also a pretty good quarter for early-stage fundraising.

Companies at Series A and Series B stage pulled in $15.6 billion in Q3 鈥� the highest tally of the past five quarters, as charted below.

The rise in funding resulted from larger average round sizes, however, not more deals. In fact, the number of reported deals actually hit a low point for the year this past quarter.

Moreover, not every round classified as early stage goes to an immature startup. This is the case, for example, for the largest early-stage Q3 round, 鈥� $863 million Series B2. Although technically an early-stage round, it鈥檚 worth noting that the company was founded in 2017 and closed its initial Series B tranche nearly four years ago.

Other standout early-stage rounds for the quarter hailed from sectors such as quantum computing, AI and biotech. This includes quantum computing startup , which raised a $600 million -backed Series B, AI robotics platform , which announced two rounds totaling $405 million, and scientific intelligence platform , which secured a $235 million Series A.

Seed stage

Unlike early stage, seed investment contracted in the third quarter. However, it should also be observed that Q2 was a hard act to follow, with scoring $2 billion in what ranks as by far the largest seed round of all time.

Over the course of Q3, by contrast, investors put a total of $4.6 billion into reported North American seed rounds. That鈥檚 a decline of 25% from the prior quarter and 14% above year-ago levels.

While seed stage is best known for smaller rounds to nascent companies, Q3 did bring us some rather large deals as well. , a developer of AI tools for scientific experiments, picked up $300 million in initial funding, while and each closed on $100 million.

AI in Q3

Recently, we鈥檝e also been breaking out AI funding in our quarterly reports, to see how this ultra-hot investment theme is impacting our tallies.

For Q3, AI startup investment totaled $35.7 billion, roughly flat with the prior quarter and nearly double the year-ago number. The broad takeaway here is that AI venture dealmaking isn鈥檛 taking off compared to a few months ago, but it isn鈥檛 slowing down either.

Exits: IPOs and M&A

The just-ended quarter was also a reasonably active period for exits, with some large IPOs garnering particular attention.

The far-and-away most attention-getting debut of the quarter was design software company 鈥檚 IPO on . Shares more than tripled in initial trading. However, demand has subsided since, leaving the company recently valued around $26 billion. Other good-sized debuts this past quarter came from , and .

There was less high-profile M&A activity during the quarter, although we did see some good-sized purchases. was among the more prolific dealmakers, announcing plans in Q3 to purchase developer AI platform for $1 billion and AI browser developer for $610 million. was also a big spender, agreeing to pay $1.1 billion for product testing startup .

Not slowing down

The Q3 report is the latest of several quarterly synopses that showcase a robust startup funding scene, with plenty of cash available in particular for compelling AI upstarts.

But it would be remiss to leave the impression that all sectors are seeing a rise. Biotech funding, for example, has been trending lower and accounting for a smaller share of total investment. These are also not bullish times for cleantech.

On balance, however, it鈥檚 hard to deny that the general direction of investment has been trending higher. And so far, there鈥檚 little indication this part of the cycle is on the way out.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Oct. 6, 2025.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

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.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

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 rounds here.

Investor enthusiasm for AI once again drove the bulk of funding for the week鈥檚 largest rounds, led by 鈥檚 $13 billion mega-financing. However, companies across a number of industries attracted large investments, including biotech, security and medical devices.

1. , $13B, generative AI: San Francisco-based generative AI unicorn Anthropic raised a $13 billion Series F round at a $183 billion valuation, making it the fourth-most valuable private company in the world, per 附近上门 data. led the round, with and co-leading.

2. , $350M, enterprise AI: Sierra, a provider of AI-enabled customer experience technology, raised $350 million at a $10 billion valuation. The San Francisco-headquartered company was founded in 2023 by former 1co-CEO and current board chair and former executive .

3. , $200M, biotech: Watertown, Massachusetts-based Treeline Biosciences, a developer of medicines for cancer and other serious diseases, the close of a $200 million Series A extension round, bringing total funding to $1.1 billion, per . The 4-year-old company also says it will begin trials for multiple cancer drugs.

4. (tied) , $150M, drug discovery: Enveda, a startup that is working to discover new drugs by studying the chemistry of plants, raised $150 million in a Series D led by . The financing set a unicorn valuation for the 6-year-old, Boulder, Colorado-based company.

4. (tied) , $150M, AI: Baseten, a provider of technology for AI application developers, raised $150 million in a Series D led by . The round brings funding to date for the San Francisco-based startup to $285 million, per .

6. (tied) , $100M, medical devices: Galvenize Therapeutics, a developer of pulsed electric field therapies for oncology and chronic lung disease, secured a $100 million Series C round. led the financing for the Redwood City, California-based company.

6. (tied) , $100M, AI: You.com locked up $100 million in Series C funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by . The Palo Alto, California-based company develops AI infrastructure with an eye to helping agentic AI applications access the information they need.

8. (tied) , $85M, AI search: Exa, a startup that bills itself as the search engine for AI, picked up $70 million in Series B funding at a $700 million valuation. led the financing for the 4-year-old San Francisco-based company.

8. (tied) , $85M, AI logistics: San Francisco-based Augment, developer of an AI tool called Augie that was built to handle shipments for the logistics industry, landed $85 million in a Series A round led by .

10. (tied) , $75M, cybersecurity: Arlington, Virginia-based Shift5, developer of an intelligence platform for U.S. defense and transportation systems, closed on $75 million in a Series C financing led by .

10. (tied) , $75M, micro-LED technology: Mojo Vision, developer of a flexible micro-LED platform for use in multiple industries, raised $75 million in what it called a Series B Prime funding round. led the financing for the Cupertino, 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 Aug. 30-Sept. 5. 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:

The slowdown marks a respite from the frenzied pace of venture investment in the first half of 2025 鈥� especially for fast-growing AI companies 鈥� when startup funding increased by more than a third year over year.

Summer pullback

Since 2023, we鈥檝e seen a noticeable summer pullback in either July or August, when global venture funding typically dips below $20 billion.

It鈥檚 typical for late-stage funding to lag in these slower months. Less typically, there was also a significant pullback at the seed stage last month, when funding at that phase nearly halved compared to July and fell a third from a year ago.

Late-stage funding declined more than 50% compared to July and fell by a fifth year over year, 附近上门 data shows.

Early-stage funding also declined month over month, but to a lesser degree, and increased slightly from a year ago. Relative to past months, Series B rounds held up by both counts and amounts.

Series B active

The two largest funding deals last month were Series B rounds to deep tech and AI startups, both based outside of the Bay Area. The largest round went to Cambridge, Massachusetts-based , a fusion energy company that raised $863 million. The second-largest was Colorado-based quantum computing 鈥檚 $593.8 million raise.

The third-largest round was a tie between Toronto, Canada-based AI lab 鈥檚 $500 million Series D and San Francisco-based coding startup 鈥檚 $500 million Series C at a $9.8 billion valuation following its earlier acquisition of .

US funding dominated

Funding to U.S.-based startups last month totaled $10.4 billion, or 61% of venture investment, per 附近上门 data.

Funding to startups headquartered in the U.S. has increased significantly year to date in 2025 to 68% of global venture capital, thanks to billion-dollar-plus funding deals for American AI companies.

AI led global startup funding again last month, totaling $4.8 billion. Healthcare and biotech followed, with startups in the sector raising $4 billion globally in August, per 附近上门 data, and more than $2 billion each went to startups in the financial services and energy sectors.

Looking forward

Despite the August funding slowdown, there are some positive signs for the startup world to look forward to, notably the reopening of the IPO markets. A more robust exit market will provide some much-needed liquidity to venture capital firms, which could in turn help reopen the funding spigot.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data reported is as of Sept. 3, 2025.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

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.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Related reading:

• Enterprise GenAI Startup Cohere Confirms $500M Raise At $6.8B Valuation And Taps Ex-Meta VP As New AI Chief
• 5 Companies Kick Off IPO Roadshow聽

Illustration:

The five new unicorns from Europe mark the highest monthly count of new billion-dollar startups since 2023 for the continent. They included the first two from Germany and the first company from Portugal so far this year to be valued at $1 billion-plus. The U.K. also added two companies last month, marking three total this year.

Six companies joined from the U.S., adding up to 31 so far this year. And two companies joined from India, adding up to three companies in 2025 year to date.

Collectively, these 13 companies added $21.7 billion in value to the board in May.

Sales and marketing, and defense tech 鈥� sectors impacted by AI 鈥� led for new unicorn companies in May, with two each.

Exits

Six companies exited the board in May, removing $13.4 billion in value.

They include four unicorn companies that went public last month: Israel-based social trading platform , San Francisco-based digital clinic , India-based electric scooter manufacturer , and Austin, Texas-based advertising platform . Each of these companies went public at or above their last known valuation, except for Hinge Health which was last valued at $6.2 billion and debuted at $2.6 billion.

Two unicorns were acquired. Coding startup , last valued at $1.1 billion in 2024 was acquired by for $3 billion. , a direct to consumer snack company known for its frozen smoothies, valued at $1.1 billion in 2021, was acquired by for an undisclosed amount.

聽May鈥檚 newly minted unicorns

Here are the 13 newly minted unicorns in May, by sector.

Sales and marketing

• , a marketing solution for apps to grow users and engagement, raised an undisclosed funding from . The 12-year-old California-based company was valued at $4.3 billion. It was acquired by in 2020.
• , a platform for automating customer interactions, raised a $120 million Series C led by , and . The 6-year-old Berlin, Germany-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Defense tech

• Lisboa, Portugal-based , a builder of unmanned aerial surveillance systems, raised an undisclosed funding amount at a $1.3 billion valuation. The 24-year-old company’s surveillance technology .
• , a dual-use company building unmanned drones for the defense sector, raised a $181 million Series C led by . The 10-year-old Bayern, Germany-based company was valued at $1 billion.

DevOps

• IoT device management service raised a minority investment led by 鈥檚 fund at a value of $4.65 billion. The 25-year-old U.K.-based company was acquired by private equity firm in 2018.

Biotechnology

• , an AI oncology drug development company, raised a $365 million Series D without disclosing investors. The 4-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.

E-commerce

• , a photorealistic try on technology for fashion, raised an undisclosed amount from family office. The 2-year-old Nevada-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Logistics

• Bangalore, India-based , a last-mile delivery provider for businesses, raised a $200 million Series F led by and . The 11-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Product tools

• , a data-driven product development platform, raised a $100 million Series C led by . The 4-year-old Bellevue, Washington-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

HR

• , an employee recognition platform, raised a $165 million Series B led by and . The 14-year-old Utah-based company was valued at $1 billion.

SaaS

• , a provider of tools for restaurants to increase sales, raised a $120 million Series C led by and. The 7-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Media and entertainment

• London, U.K.-based , an indie streaming service, raised a $100 million funding led by . The 18-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Raw materials

• , an e-commerce marketplace for steel and cement, raised a $40 million Series B led by and . The 5-year-old Mumbai, India-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related 附近上门 unicorn lists:

• (1,585)
• (52)
• (110)
• (102)
• (793)
• (494)
• (206)
• (37)
• (444)
• (514)

Related reading:

• The Week鈥檚 Biggest Funding Rounds: Pathos, Addepar Top Busy Week For Health And Fintech聽

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:

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

Another week and another big artificial intelligence round. All in all it was an active week with a half-dozen rounds of $100 million or more, with everything from AI to blockchain to biotech getting serious cash.

1. , $2B, artificial intelligence: AI research lab Safe Superintelligence snatched its second big raise in fewer than seven months. SSI, co-founded by 鈥榮 former chief scientist , raised a $2 billion round at a $32 billion valuation led by . The startup, which is looking to develop safe artificial intelligence systems, raised a $1 billion round from a litany of big-name investors including and last September.

2. , $258M, energy: Mainspring Energy secured a $258 million Series F led by . The Menlo Park, California-based firm builds generators 鈥� a business that has become appealing to investors as artificial intelligence continues to suck down energy. The company already is shipping generators 鈥� which can provide 10s of megawatts of power 鈥� to U.S. data center customers this year. Founded in 2010, the company has raised $813 million,

3. , $153M, blockchain: Web3 funding has been on the rise, and this week saw a good-sized round. Santa Clara, California-based Auradine, a developer of sustainable Bitcoin mining and AI data center networking solutions, raised a $153 million Series C led by . Founded in 2022, Auradine has raised more than $300 million, per the company.

4. , $115M, biotech: San Carlos, California-based Glycomine, a biotech startup聽 developing new therapies for orphan diseases, announced a $115 million Series C led by funds managed by , and . The company plans to use the new cash to advance its lead candidate into a phase 2b clinical trial. Founded in 2013, the company has raised $195 million, .

5. , $104M, biotech: A competitor raised big this week with a $104 million round led by . The Alameda, California-based biotech 鈥� which was founded by a Neurolink co-founder, is working on both a brain implant system and a retina implant to treat eye diseases. Founded in 2021, the company has raised $177 million, .

6. , $100M, data: San Mateo, California-based Hammerspace, a data platform for AI, raised a $100 million round led by . Founded in 2018, the company has raised nearly $157 million, .

7. , $90M, biotech: San Carlos, California-based Attovia Therapeutics, which is developing biotherapeutics focused on immune-mediated diseases, closed a $90 million Series C led by . Founded in 2023, Attovia has raised $255 million, .

8. (tied) , $75M, healthcare: New York-based Chapter, a Medicare navigation platform which helps seniors find coverage, raised a $75 million Series D led by . Founded in 2020, the company has raised $184 million, .

8. (tied) , $75M, cybersecurity: Exaforce locked up a $75 million Series A funding led by , 1听补苍诲 . The San Jose, California-based startup is helping bring artificial intelligence agents to security operations centers. The idea is, with the help of data, to significantly reduce human-led SOC work while improving security outcomes.

10. , $63M, fintech: Cincinnati-based Luma Financial Technologies, a fintech for banks and brokers, closed a $63 million Series C led by . Founded in 2018, the company has raised $93 million, .

Big global deals

The biggest raise this week outside the U.S. came from China.

• Beijing-based , an AI-driven startup in the autonomous driving sector, raised a $200 million Series B.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of April 12 to April 18. 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: