The size of a Series A round for a hot startup is on the rise.
So far this year, global startups have secured at least 114 Series A rounds 1 of $100 million or more, per Crunchbase data. That’s the highest annual total in years and on track to top the all-time peak.
Moreover, many of those jumbo early-stage rounds far exceed the $100 million threshold. Collectively, this group of Series A recipients has raised around $33 billion this year, with at least 12 rounds valued at $500 million or more.
An AI thing
The funding bump was mostly an AI-driven phenomenon. Per Crunchbase data, more than 70% of Series A rounds of $100 million or more went to AI-focused startups.
That figure encompasses some of the year’s largest early-stage financings. For instance, it includes a $1.2 billion round for Silicon Valley-based River AI, a platform for developers to train and serve custom models, and a $900 million financing for China-based Xpeng Robotics, a developer of AI-enabled humanoid robots.
Below, we put together a sample of 10 of the largest Series A rounds, including mostly AI but a few other areas as well.
The high preponderance of AI deals reflects what we’ve been seeing across stages. In the first half of this year, venture and growth funding to artificial intelligence startups totaled an estimated $394 billion, roughly 77% of all investment capital. Granted, most of that was for later-stage financings. But our Series A data shows early-stage doesn’t look too different for AI’s share.
US leads for jumbo Series A deals.
Roughly half of this year’s $100 million-plus Series A rounds and funding went to U.S.-based startups, per Crunchbase data. That translates to about 62 deals with a collective value of around $15 billion so far in 2026, which puts it on track for a record tally.
Still, megaround funding at Series A is more globally dispersed than overall venture investment this year. In the first half of 2026, more than three-quarters of global seed- through growth-stage financing went to American companies, largely due to megarounds for Silicon Valley-based Anthropic and OpenAI.
When investors like the same things
One can point to several potential causes behind the rise in Series A megarounds beyond AI growth alone. For one, leading startup investors have exceptionally large capital reserves to deploy. Additionally, exit multiples historically, and to an even greater extent recently, reward those who are anything but modest in their ambitions.
At Series A, another factor may be that investors seem to agree more than usual on the sectors, business models and founding teams they want to back. And given that a pricey share of a winner still beats a discounted share of a laggard, they’re piling in to perceived early-stage leaders.
Related Crunchbase queries:
Related reading:
Illustration: Dom Guzman
Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the
Crunchbase Daily.
