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Sector Snapshot: Venture Funding To Foundational AI Startups In Q1 Was Double All Of 2025
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Funding to foundational AI startups, also known as generative AI companies or frontier labs, has doubled in the first quarter of 2026 so far compared to all of 2025, Crunchbase data shows.
Key facts
- Venture funding to AI overall reached $211 billion, up 85% year over year from $114 billion in 2024, Crunchbase data shows
- Last month, OpenAI revealed that it’s raising an additional $10 billion in funding for its record-setting $110 billion megaround announced in February, bringing the total fundraise for the San
- The numbers: As of March 31, foundational AI startups had raised $178 billion across 24 deals, compared with $88.9 billion across 66 deals in all of 2025 in a 100% increase
- By contrast, funding to foundational AI companies totaled $23.2 billion in 2023 (a fraction of the size of OpenAI’s latest round) and a mere $1.4 billion in 2022
Summary
That funding is increasingly concentrated in a handful of foundational giants, including OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI. The broad trend: After three years of declining or flat venture investment, global startup overall funding grew year over year in 2025, Crunchbase data shows. Venture funding to AI overall reached $211 billion, up 85% year over year from $114 billion in 2024, Crunchbase data shows. The numbers: As of March 31, foundational AI startups had raised $178 billion across 24 deals, compared with $88.9 billion across 66 deals in all of 2025 in a 100% increase.