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.

Venture funding has always been a world of haves and have nots. And these days, the haves are having more than ever. Case in point this week was . The 5-year-old generative AI giant secured $65 billion in Series H funding this week, pushing its post-money valuation to a mind-blowing $965 billion.

After that, the next-biggest financing was a $1 billion round for AI software development tool maker , lifting its valuation to $26 billion. Companies in a range of other sectors also managed to secure sizable though smaller rounds, in areas including commerce logistics, developer AI, insurtech, fusion and more.

1. , $65B, foundational AI: Generative AI company Anthropic raised $65 billion in a Series H funding round, more than doubling its post-money valuation to a staggering $965 billion. San Francisco-based Anthropic said , , and led the financing, and that , , , , and co-led the investment.

2. , $1B, AI software development: Cognition, developer of AI software engineer Devin, has closed on over $1 billion at a $26 billion valuation. , , and 1听led the financing for the San Francisco-based company.

3. , $250M, logistics: Atlanta-based Stord, developer of a fulfillment network, software and AI tools for independent brands, secured $250 million in Series F funding. The round set a $3 billion valuation for the 11-year-old company.

4. , $113M, AI for developers: OpenRouter, a marketplace for AI models, secured $113 million in Series B funding. led the financing for the New York-based startup.

5. , $106M, insurtech: San Francisco-based Corgi Insurance, developer of an AI-native insurance platform for startups, picked up $106 million in Series B1 funding led by . The financing, which set a $2.6 billion valuation, comes just three weeks after Corgi $160 million in Series B funding at a $1.3 billion valuation.

6. (tied) , $100M, fusion energy: Kearny, New Jersey-based Thea Energy, a developer of technology for fusion energy systems, raised $100 million in Series B funding led by . Thea says the funding will go toward manufacturing infrastructure.

6. (tied) , $100M, healthcare data: Garner Health, a platform for finding healthcare providers, closed on $100 million in Series E funding led by . The financing set a $2.74 billion for the New York-based company.

8. , $90M, space tech: Observable Space, a space tech startup that develops and builds advanced optical systems, says it raised $90 million in Series A funding led by to scale manufacturing and develop its technology. The Santa Monica, California-based company also announced that it secured a $94 million contract with the.

9. , $59M, AI video: Reactor, a San Francisco-based developer platform for real-time generative video, emerged from stealth with $59 million in funding led by .

10. , $52M, cancer detection: San Diego-based ClearNote Health, a developer of early detection and monitoring tests for multiple forms of cancer, picked up $52 million in Series D financing. Founding investor led the round.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of May 23-29. 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.

Defense tech unicorn led the fundraising lineup in a week heavy with rounds for companies focused on applications in the physical world. Anduril鈥檚 $5 billion financing was by far the biggest. Other large rounds went to companies focused on supplying data power, robotics, space tech, biotech, and even strawberries.

1.听, $5B, defense tech: Defense tech unicorn Anduril Industries raised another $5 billion in funding at a $61 billion valuation 鈥� double the valuation of $30.5 billion it received less than a year ago. The Series H round, led by and , brings the Costa Mesa, California-based company鈥檚 total raised to date to $11.4 billion, .听听

2.听, $775M, energy: Houston-based VoltaGrid, a provider of mobile natural gas generators for data centers, microgrids and industrial applications, secured $1 billion in strategic investment from and . The investment includes $775 million in capital funding and a $225 million secondary purchase from existing investors.

3.听, $400M, robotics: Palo Alto, California-based Mind Robotics, developer of an AI-enabled industrial robotics platform, picked up $400 million in new financing led by . The round brings total funding to date to more than $1 billion for the startup, which launched in 2025 as a spinout of .

4.听, $275M, space tech: Cowboy Space, a developer of rockets and satellite infrastructure to power and run AI compute in space, closed on $275 million in Series B funding at a $2 billion valuation. led the financing for the San Carlos, California-based startup, which was founded by co-founder .听

5.听, $150M, indoor farming: Oishii, operator of highly automated indoor farms for growing strawberries, raised $150 million in Series C funding led by . Founded in 2016, the Jersey City, New Jersey-headquartered startup has raised $370 million in total funding to date.

6.听, $125M, cybersecurity: San Jose-based Exaforce, developer of an AI-native security operations platform, secured $125 million in Series B funding from backers including , , , 听补苍诲听 .

7.听, $122M, biotech: Create Medicines, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup focused on in vivo immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, closed on $122 million in Series B funding. , , and led the financing.

8.听, $100M, autonomy: Providence, Rhode Island-based HavocAI, a provider of tools for developing military and commercial-grade autonomous systems across sea, air and land, secured $100 million in Series A funding. The round brings total funding to date for the 2-year-old company to $200 million.

9.听, $65M, space tech: Star Catcher, a startup that says it is building the first power grid in space by beaming concentrated solar energy on demand to satellites, picked up $65 million in Series A funding. , and led the financing for the Jacksonville, Florida-based company, which was founded less than two years ago.

10.听, $64M, data center power: GridCare, developer of technology to more efficiently provide power to AI data centers, raised $64 million in Series A funding. led the financing for the Redwood City, California-based startup.听

Related reading:

• Anduril Raises Another $5B As Defense Tech Startups Shatter Funding Records听

Illustration:

Two newly founded AI labs, both based in London and both with researchers from , raised large rounds out of the gate and made their Unicorn Board debuts. The two companies, and , both raised large initial fundings out of the gate, though take very different approaches to training AI.听 They were joined by another new unicorn in the foundation AI sector: , an open-source model company from China with on-device smaller models.听

Six companies working on humanoid robotics 鈥斕齠ive from China and one from Japan 鈥� also received billion-dollar-plus valuations last month. Quite a few of these companies are building models for robotic intelligence using simulated data.听

The financial services, defense, developer tools, energy and healthcare sectors each added two or three new unicorns in April.听

Of the 28 companies, 12 are U.S.-based and eight are from China. The UK counted two new unicorns last month, while Germany, Spain, Switzerland, India and Japan each added one.听

April鈥檚 new unicorns

Here are April鈥檚 new unicorn companies. Of the 28 companies, 26 are AI-related.听

Foundational AI听

• , a London-based AI lab using reinforcement learning rather than human-generated data, raised a $1.1 billion seed round led by and . The less than 1-year-old company was founded by of AlphaGo and . It was valued at $5.1 billion in its first funding.听
• London-based , a new AI intelligence lab with the goal of continuous learning improvement, raised a $500 million Series A led by and . Founded by DeepMind researchers and 鈥檚 1 previous AI lead, the less than 1-year-old company was valued at $4.5 billion.听
• Beijing-based , an on-device foundation model developer, raised funding led by and . Its open source MiniCPM is deployed in automotives, smartphones, PCs and home devices. The 3-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.听

Robotics听

• Shanghai-based is a robotics AI company building a foundational model as well as hardware. It uses simulated training to create a model for grasping and spatial awareness. The 1-year-old company raised a Series A round and was valued at $2 billion.
• Shanghai-based humanoid robotics company raised a $513 million seed round led by and HSG. The 1-year-old company was valued at $1.9 billion.听
• Beijing-based , a hardware and software developer of models for robotics using simulated data, raised a $220 million Series B. The 3-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.听
• Shenzhen-based , a builder of humanoid and quadruped robots, raised a $200 million Series B led by and . The 2-year-old company robots will be deployed for traffic, security and retail. It was valued at $1.5 billion.听
• Shenzhen-based , a commercial robotics company for delivery and commercial cleaning, raised a $146 million funding led by and . The 10-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.听
• Tokyo-based , a humanoid robotics company to address public safety and urban maintenance, raised a Series A led round. The 1-year-old company co-founded by was valued at $1 billion.

Financial services听

• , which automates research for investment banks, raised a $160 million Series D led by . The 4-year-old New York-based company was valued at $2 billion.
• Bangalore-based , a consumer and small business lending service, raised a $220 million Series E led by , , and . The 8-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.听
• , a banking and expense management service targeting small businesses and solopreneurs, raised a $100 million Series C led by , and . The 5-year-old San Francisco-based company, founded by college dropouts at the time, was valued at $1.4 billion.听

Defense听

• Space defense company raised a $600 million Series D led by and . The company has built software for space operations and an autonomous orbital vehicle called Jackal. The 4-year-old, Colorado-based company was valued at $2.2 billion.听
• Defense aviation company raised a $200 million Series C led by Khosla Ventures. The 7-year-old El Segundo, California-based builder of autonomous aircraft was valued at $1 billion.听

Developer tools听

• , a web search provider for AI agents used by and , raised a $100 million Series B led by Sequoia Capital. The 2-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $2 billion.听
• , an agentic software coding tool for enterprises, raised a $150 million Series C led by . The 3-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.听

Energy听

• , developer of small nuclear reactors to provide direct power for AI data centers, raised a $340 million Series B funding. The 2-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $2 billion.听
• , a long duration energy storage battery provider, raised a $58 million Series C led by . The 12-year-old Bayern, Germany-based company that supports energy needs for grids, data centers and industry, was valued at $1.2 billion.听

Health care听

• Shanghai-based , a developer of a model for healthcare that includes computer vision and large language models, raised a $73 million Series A round. The 12-year-old company has built an assistant for doctors for screening, diagnosis and patient care, and was valued at $1 billion.听
• Switzerland-based , a developer of a peptide product to address enamel repair without needing surgery, raised a private equity funding led by . The 6-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.听

Data platform

• has built a semantic layer between data and agents necessary to interpret data and provide guardrails for AI. The 4-year-old San Francisco-based company raised a $120 million Series C led by and was valued at $1.5 billion.听

Manufacturing

• Shanghai-based , a collaboration tool to make factories more efficient, raised a $146 million Series D funding. The 10-year-old Shanghai-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.

Agentic AI

• , which builds agents trained on company data, raised a $80 million funding led by . The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.听

Aerospace听

• Madrid-based , which is building data from satellites tracking changes in the earth for various commercial needs, raised a $130 million Series B led by . The 6-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.听

Marketing & sales听

• , a provider of booking and customer service for the services industry using AI, has raised a Series B funding led by and . The 4-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion. The company has raised $125 million in funding from seed through its Series B.听

Biotechnology听

• , an AI biotechnology infrastructure platform speeding up drug discovery, raised a $40 million Series E. The 8-year-old Waltham, Massachusetts-based company was valued at $1 billion.听

Waste management听

• converts unused food products into energy. It raised a Series C funding led by strategic partner . The 19-year-old Concord, Massachusetts-based company was valued at $1 billion.听

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:听

• (1,756)
• (611)
• (128)
• (187)
• (118)
• (102)
• (896)
• (516)
• (239)
• (38)
• (477)

Related reading:

• March Mints 11 New Unicorns, As $200B Is Added Through Up Rounds And Board Posts Strong Exits听
• Billion-Dollar AI Rounds Push April To Third-Highest Startup Funding Month In A Year
• This Is A Momentous Year For Early-Stage Unicorns听
• The Rising Investors Behind The New Unicorn Class听
• While OpenAI Shattered Records, Robotics and Semiconductor Startups Quietly Added The Most New Unicorns In February听

Methodology

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

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.听

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

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

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase 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 Crunchbase 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 last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Large U.S. venture deals this week were led by a massive defense tech raise for space security startup . That theme continued with another two aerospace- and defense-related companies also getting major investor backing. We also saw sizable deals for startups applying AI to fintech, marketing, customer service, healthcare and developer tools. Let鈥檚 take a closer look.

1. , $600M, aerospace and defense: Centennial, Colorado-based True Anomaly raised a massive $600 million Series D led by and , with participation from a long list of other backers including , , , , and . True Anomaly develops space security and in-orbit defense systems, an area drawing increasing venture investor attention amid rising geopolitical tensions. The new round brings its total funding up to $1.1 billion, .

2. , $160M, AI and fintech: New York-based Rogo secured $160 million in Series D funding led by and joined by other investors including , , , , and . Rogo builds AI-powered tools to automate financial research and workflows. The latest financing brings its total funding raised to date to $314 million, . The deal is also the latest example of investor enthusiasm for startups targeting high-value knowledge work such as law and accounting.

3. , $150M, AI and marketing: San Francisco-based Hightouch raised $150 million in a Series D co-led by and . , , , and other investors joined. The company focuses on agentic AI-driven marketing and customer data activation. The round brings Hightouch鈥檚 total funding to date to and comes amid rising demand for AI tools embedded directly into enterprise marketing stacks.

4. , $125M, AI and customer service: New York-based Avoca brought in $125 million in a Series B led by and, with participation from other investors including , , and . Avoca develops AI agents for customer communication workflows. The new raise brings its total funding to $125.5 million, .

5. , $110M, AI and customer service: San Mateo, California-based Netomi raised $110 million in a Series C led by , with participation from and others, including individual investors , , and . The company offers AI-powered customer experience automation across channels. The new funding brings its total raised to date to $217 million, .

6. (tied) , $100M, developer tools: Palo Alto, California-based Parallel secured $100 million in a Series B led by , with additional backing from other big-name investors , and . The startup is building a suite of AI agents and developer tools to automate workflows. It has raised $260 million to date, .

6. (tied) , $100M, aerospace and defense: Sunnyvale, California-based Scout AI raised a sizable $100 million Series A led by and . A long list of other investors joined, including , and . The startup develops AI systems for aerospace and defense applications. Its large early-stage round underscores continued investor appetite for dual-use and defense-focused startups, which globally raised a record $7.7 billion in 2025, per Crunchbase data.

8. , $82M, aerospace and defense: San Diego-based Firestorm closed an $82 million Series B led by . also participated in this round, as did , , , and others. Firestone builds modular, mission-adaptable drone systems. It has raised nearly $150 million total, .

9. , $77M, health diagnostics: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Iterative Health raised $77 million in a Series C led by and, with additional backing from , and . The company develops AI-powered diagnostic and clinical workflow tools, particularly in gastroenterology. It has raised more than $268 million since inception, according to .

10. , $75M, foundational AI: Investors continue to back next-generation foundation model startups. One of the latest is San Francisco-based AI research startup Standard Intelligence, which raised a $75 million Series A led by and . The raise comes at a $425 million pre-money valuation. Other investors in the deal include , and AI researcher . Standard AI is developing 鈥渃omputer-use鈥� models designed to interact directly with software. Its approach 鈥� training on large-scale video data rather than manually annotated screenshots 鈥� aims to significantly reduce costs and improve performance.

Large non-US deals

We also saw several sizable deals for startups based outside the U.S.:

, $1.1B, foundational AI: London-based frontier lab Ineffable Intelligence raised a $1.1 billion seed round, the largest for a European startup on record. (The previous record was set just a couple of months ago, when Paris-based frontier lab raised a $1.03 billion seed round.) and led Ineffable鈥檚 seed funding.

, $300M, aerospace: China-based Volant Aerotech raised a $300 million Series C led by . The company is developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, designed to be used as taxis.

, $200M, robotics: China-based humanoid robot developer Robot Era raised a $200 million round led by , with participation from a long list of investors including and . The company is developing robots designed for industrial and service work, and follows a string of other large fundings for China-based robotics startups.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of April 25-May 1. 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.

This week, just half of the top 10 rounds crossed the $100 million mark, which is somewhat unusual in this high-flying era for venture megarounds. Nonetheless some large checks did get written, led by 鈥檚 $5 billion investment and partnership deal with . Other sizable rounds went to companies in sectors including aviation autonomy, vision therapy and AI analytics.

1. , $5B, foundational AI: AI giant Anthropic that Amazon is investing $5 billion in the company, with up to an additional $20 billion in the future. Previously, Amazon had invested $8 billion in the San Francisco-based company. The latest financing also includes a partnership with Amazon for training and deploying Anthropic鈥檚 AI assistant Claude.

2. , $160M, autonomous aircraft: Reliable Robotics, a developer of autonomous aircraft systems, raised $160 million in fresh financing led by . The 9-year-old, Mountain View, California-based company markets its technology for both commercial and defense aviation.

3. , $125M, vision therapy: San Diego-based Ray Therapeutics, a biotech startup focused on vision restoration therapies, secured $125 million in Series B funding led by . Founded in 2021, Ray has raised $247 million in venture and grant funding to date, per .

4. , $120M, AI analytics: Omni, developer of an AI-enabled analytics platform, closed on $120 million in Series C funding led by . The financing set a $1.5 billion valuation for the 4-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

5. , $106M, biotech: Framingham, Massachusetts-based Tortugas Neurosciences, neurology-focused biotech startup, scooped up $106 million in Series A funding. Founding investor co-led the round alongside and .

6. , $80M, medtech: AcuityMD, an AI-enabled data and research platform for medtech industry customers, picked up $80 million in Series C investment. led the funding for the 7-year-old, Boston-based company.

7. , $75M, foundational AI: that it purchased $75 million worth of San Francisco-based OpenAI鈥檚 common stock. The shares are owned by Robinhood Ventures Fund I, a publicly traded fund that provides investors exposure to a curated portfolio of private companies.

8. , $60M, workflow orchestration: Orkes, developer of an AI-enabled software workflow orchestration platform, secured $60 million in Series B funding. led the financing for the 5-year-old, Silicon Valley-based startup.

9. , $50M, health tech: Courier Health, a developer of tools to improve patient experience for people with chronic conditions or rare diseases, closed on $50 million in Series B funding. led the financing for the New York-based company.

10. , $50M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Serif Bio颅med颅i颅cines, a biotech颅 startup focused on Mod颅i颅fied DNA as a new class of med颅i颅cines, launched with $50 million in initial funding from .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of April 18-24. 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:

On the positive side, EVs are gaining ground. In 2025, sales increased by more than 20% year on year, rising to 21 million units, per .

On the other hand, early EV optimists assumed we鈥檇 be much further along by now. And while sales are up, the is slowing, driven by affordability constraints, trade friction and shifting government incentives.

The broad trend: Funding to EV-related startups reflects a similar mix of optimism and restraint. Investors are backing big rounds for a handful of upstart brands like customizable pickup truck maker and micromobility spin-out . Yet funding remains far below prior peaks and exit activity appears muted.

The numbers: Companies in Crunchbase鈥檚 electric vehicle category are on track to see higher investment this year relative to last. Around $3.6 billion has gone to companies in the space so far in 2026, spread across about 50 rounds.

However, we鈥檙e still nowhere near the 2021 cyclical peak, when nearly $19 billion went to global EV startups. For perspective, we charted investment and deal count since 2020 below.

Noteworthy deals

The largest round tied to the EV space this year went to , which isn鈥檛 an electric vehicle brand but rather a developer of autonomous driving technology that has been tested on EVs. The London-based company raised $1.2 billion in a February financing at an $8.6 billion valuation.

Another standout fundraiser was Troy, Michigan-based Slate Auto, a developer of lower-cost electric pickup trucks that can be customized as SUVs. The -backed company raised $650 million in Series C funding last week and says it plans to deliver its first vehicles to customers later this year.

The Rivian spin-out Also, focused on electric bikes and skinny four-wheeled models capable of carrying cargo, is also scaling up, securing $200 million in Series C funding in March. The startup also plans to partner with to develop autonomous delivery vehicles.

China-based startups are also scaling up. , a developer of autonomous electric trucks,听 secured $310 million early this year, while , the flying car subsidiary of EV brand , picked up $200 million in fresh financing.

Exits

While private funding still flows to EV-related startups, exit activity has been comparatively slow.

On the IPO front, Chinese EV car brand made its Hong Kong debut last month. And India-based electric scooter and charging provider went public last spring.

U.S. startups, however, have been sitting out the IPO market in recent quarters, with the exception of a $9 million micro- early this year from solar electric vehicle brand .

As for M&A, we haven鈥檛 seen sizable disclosed-price purchases of private, venture-backed EV companies in recent quarters, per Crunchbase data. Another deal in the wings, meanwhile, is a planned SPAC merger transaction involving Swedish autonomous electric freight shipping startup .

Outlook

The EV funding environment, neither especially weak nor particularly robust, contrasts sharply with the investment climate for autonomous driving startups, which hit a record amount this year. Perhaps, over time, we鈥檒l see some momentum spilling over to EVs, as you can鈥檛 have autonomous vehicles technology become widespread without somebody supplying the actual vehicles.

Related Crunchbase query:

Related reading:

• Sector Snapshot: Autonomous Vehicle Funding More Than Triples In 2026 To Hit Record Amount

Illustration:

AI infrastructure also added four new unicorn companies focused on data center technology and provisioning. Fintech, including startups in wealth management, payment and digital assets, added four companies, while developer tools and defense each added three.

Twenty of March鈥檚 new unicorns are U.S.-based, including 11 from the San Francisco Bay Area. China added six companies in sectors ranging from robotics to AI and quantum computing.

From Europe, four new March unicorns are U.K.-based, while France, the Netherlands and Belgium each minted one. The UAE, Seychelles, India and Australia also each added one new unicorn to the board.

The most valuable unicorn newcomer last month was Seychelles-based crypto exchange , valued at $25 billion. The largest funding was a $1 billion round raised by AI pioneer 鈥檚 new frontier lab startup, Paris-based .

The board also saw a sizable cohort of very young companies earning their unicorn horns: 18 of the companies that joined the board last month were less than 3 years old. Five were not even a year old.

March鈥檚 new unicorns

AI-centric sectors by far led unicorn creation in March, with 14 of the 36 newcomers hailing from the robotics, foundational AI or AI infrastructure industries:

Robotics

• , a robotics for manufacturing company spun out by , raised a $500 million Series A led by and . The 1-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $2 billion.
• Shenzhen-based , an intelligent sensor technology for robotics, raised a $145 million Series B led by , and . The 4-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• Beijing-based , a humanoid robotics company, raised $145 million in funding. The 2-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• , a humanoid robotics company for household tasks, raised a $165 million Series B led by . The 2-year-old Mountain View, California-based company was valued at $1.2 billion. The company plans to deploy robots to homes this year.
• Pudong, China-based , an intelligent layer for robotics in manufacturing, raised an $87 million Series D round. The 9-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• , a provider of simulated data for robotic intelligence, raised a $146 million Series A. The 3-year-old Santa Clara, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Foundational AI

• Paris-based raised a $1 billion seed round led by , ,, and . The less than 1-year-old company was founded by LeCun, 鈥檚 former AI lead, and is working to develop models for physical AI. It was valued at $4.5 billion in the round, which is Europe鈥檚 largest seed round on record.
• , a robot foundation model developer trained on internet scale video, raised a $450 million Series A led by . The 2-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1.7 billion.
• , a math foundation model developer for verified AI useful for coding and other applications, raised a $200 million Series A led by . The 1-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.
• Beijing-based , a text-to-video startup with its own AI model, raised a $300 million Series C led by . The 2-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

AI infrastructure

• , a provider of networking hardware and software for data centers, raised a $500 million Series B led by and . The 2-year-old Santa Clara, California-based company was valued at $4.2 billion.
• , a chip cooling technology, raised a $143 million Series D led by . The 8-year-old San Jose, California-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.
• , which offers GPU rentals for startups, raised a Series A funding led by . The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• Redmond, Washington-based , a company building data centers in space, raised a $170 million Series A led by and . The 2-year-old company听 was valued at $1.1 billion.听 It launched its first satellite with a H100 in November 2025.

Financial services

• London-based , an AI-native platform for debt providers including banks, asset managers and advisory firms, raised a $170 million Series C led by . The 9-year-old company was valued at $1.3 billion.
• Mumbai-based , a wealth asset advisory firm for high-net-worth individuals and family offices, raised a $53 million private equity funding led by . The 4-year old, venture-backed asset manager was valued at $1.1 billion.
• Brussels-based , an investment group for digital assets, raised a Series C led by . The 8-year-old company was valued at $1.1 billion.
• Abu Dhabi-based , a payments infrastructure provider for regulated gaming markets, raised a $250 million funding led by . The less than 1-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Developer tools

• , which promises to make your app enterprise ready with authentication and other features, raised a $100 million Series C led by and. The 8-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $2 billion.
• , an observability platform for agentic AI, raised a $110 million Series B led by . The 3-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• , a software developer for hardware testing and development, raised an $80 million Series B led by . The 3-year-old Austin-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Defense

• , a drone technology company built for defense, raised a $110 million Series B led by . The 7-year-old Huntsville, Alabama-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• Sydney-based , provider of advanced navigation beyond GPS for military and industrial capabilities, raised a $112 million Series C led by . The 13-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.
• London-based , a builder of unmanned systems used in the Ukrainian war, raised a $50 million seed听 funding led by and . The 1-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Biotechnology

• Austin-based , a biological AI research company spun out of听 , raised a $10 million seed extension. The less than 1-year-old company was valued at $2 billion.
• , a neurotech company focused on brain computer interfaces, raised a $230 million Series C led by and听 Lightspeed Venture Partners. The 5-year-old Alameda, California-based company, whose primary product, an implant to restore vision for those who suffer retinal disease, was valued at $1.5 billion.

Sales and marketing

• Amsterdam-based , a builder of agents for companies to deploy in customer service and business operations, raised a $150 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old company was valued at $2 billion.
• , an agentic layer that monitors customers and researches prospects, raised a Series B led by . The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Security

• , native AI security with its own human triage for customers, raised a $250 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old Sarasota, Florida-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• , which uses AI for offensive security, raised a $120 million Series C led by and . The 2-year-old Seattle-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Cryptocurrency

• Seychelles-based , a global cryptocurrency exchange platform, raised a $200 million corporate round led by , the parent company of the . The 12-year-old company was valued at $25 billion.

Telehealth

• Miami-based , ‘s telehealth provider for GLP-1 medications through employers, raised a $200 million Series A led by . The 5-year-old company was valued at $2 billion.

Professional services

• London-based , an AI notetaking startup, raised a $125 million Series C led by . The 3-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Consumer goods

• , a company with a mattress, thermal blanket and pillow designed to monitor and improve sleep, raised a $50 million Series D led by . The 11-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Accelerator

• London-based , an accelerator that sources founders from top schools, raised a $200 million Series D. The 11-year-old company, which hosts its latest cohorts in Silicon Valley, was valued at $1.3 billion.

Quantum computing

• Sichuan, China-based , a quantum computer and chip-production company, raised a $145 million Series B. The 5-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Autonomous driving

• Hangzhou-based , an intelligent driving platform, raised a Series A led by , and . The less than 1-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:

• (1,739)
• (609)
• (101)
• (188)
• (117)
• (102)
• (896)
• (510)
• (236)
• (38)
• (472)

Related reading:

• This Is A Momentous Year For Early-Stage Unicorns
• The Rising Investors Behind The New Unicorn Class
• While OpenAI Shattered Records, Robotics and Semiconductor Startups Quietly Added The Most New Unicorns In February

Methodology

The Crunchbase Unicorn Board is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase 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. Crunchbase 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 Crunchbase 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 last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Transportation and biotech were leading themes among this week鈥檚 largest U.S. funding recipients. This includes the week鈥檚 largest round, a $650 million financing for electric pickup truck maker . Other sizable investments went to spaces including drug development, autonomous public transit and software engineering.

1. , $650M, electric vehicles: Troy, Michigan-based Slate Auto, a developer of lower-cost electric pickup trucks that can be customized as SUVs, raised $650 million in Series C funding led by . The -backed company said it plans to deliver its first vehicles to customers later this year.

2. , $300M, biotech: Beeline Medicines, a Boston-based developer of precision therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, emerged from stealth with $300 million in Series A funding led by . The company鈥檚 initial portfolio includes five programs licensed from .

3. , $170M, autonomous transportation: Glydways, a developer of personal autonomous pods designed to operate on dedicated lanes, closed on $170 million in Series C funding. , ACS Group听and led the financing for the San Francisco-based company, which is launching operational pilots in three cities this year.

4. , $150M, AI software development: Factory, a startup focused on bringing autonomy to software engineering, secured $150 million in a Series C round led by . The financing set a $1.5 billion valuation for the 3-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

5. , $108M, biotech: South San Francisco, California-based Terremoto Biosciences, a developer of small molecule medicines for cancer and rare diseases, raised $108 million in Series C funding from backers including , , and .

6. (tied) , $100M, student transportation: Zum, a provider of a platform for optimizing K-12 student transportation, secured $100 million in new funding from . Founded in 2015, Redwood City, California-based Zum has raised about $500 million in known funding to date, per .

6. (tied) , $100M, biotech: Neomorph, a developer of cancer therapeutics, closed on $100 million in Series B funding to support clinical trials. led the financing for the San Diego-based company.

6. (tied) , $100M, fintech: San Francisco-based Slash, a business banking platform, picked up $100 million in a Series C round led by , and . The financing set a $1.4 billion valuation for the company, which said it surpassed $250 million in annualized revenue in 2025.

9. , $80M, semiconductors: nEye, a developer of integrated optical interconnects for data center connectivity, raised $80 million in Series C financing led by . Founded in 2020, Silicon Valley-based nEye has raised $152 million in funding to date.

10. , $75M, space tech: Irvine, California-based Turion Space, a provider of an orbital intelligence and operations platform, over $75 million in a Series B round led by .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of April 11-17. 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:

Several multibillion-dollar megadeals drove the spike in first-quarter investment. That signals investors aren’t just paying for research anymore, but betting on companies that are ready to scale up and put their AI technology into actual cars people can buy or hail.

So far in 2026, we鈥檝e seen a shift to a small number of autonomous vehicle companies capturing a disproportionate share of global capital, with a handful of giants, including ,听 and , getting the lion鈥檚 share of funding.

The broad trend: It appears that investors are no longer spreading small bets across dozens of startups. Instead, they are pouring billions into the three or four players they believe will own the market. And while North America remains the largest hub for overall funding volume, the Asia-Pacific region 鈥� specifically China 鈥� is seeing the fastest growth in deployment. Chinese startups are also raising some of the largest rounds in the space.

The numbers: Autonomous vehicle startups raised a record $21.4 billion across 34 deals through April 15, . That鈥檚 up a staggering 262.17% compared to the $5.9 billion raised across 99 investments globally in all of 2025. It鈥檚 also about 77% higher than the $12.1 billion raised across 127 deals in 2024.

Noteworthy deals

Exactly three-fourths of the $21.4 billion raised in 2026 thus far is attributable to Mountain View, California-based Waymo鈥檚 raised in February. , , and co-led the financing, which was raised at a staggering $126 billion valuation.

But it wasn鈥檛 the only outsized round.

San Diego-based Shield AI landed a $2 billion Series G round co-led by and . Its valuation jumped to $12.7 billion.

And London-based Wayve raised a $1.3 billion Series D round co-led by , and , achieving an $8.6 billion valuation.

Interestingly in 2025, three of the four largest autonomous vehicle rounds were raised by Chinese companies: an $897.7 million Series C by ; a $600 million Series D by , and $527.8 million by .

IPO outlook

We didn鈥檛 see any IPOs in the space in 2025, but some are on the horizon for this year.

Beijing-based confidentially in March. Backed by , and , it is seeking a valuation above $14 billion.

secured $24.7 million in pre-IPO funding in March and is as it expands its AI-led logistics projects.

Because Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet (), it doesn’t need to go public for cash, but industry observers are increasingly discussing a potential spinoff. With a $126 billion valuation, it would instantly become one of the most valuable transportation companies in the world if it hit the public market.

Related Crunchbase query:

Illustration:

In fact, Crunchbase data shows the extent to which venture funding this year has been a case of more capital concentrated into a select few companies and a single industry. Last quarter, a handful of large, well-funded AI companies, almost all based in the U.S., captured the vast majority of venture dollars, even as global startup deal count fell.

AI takes 80% of global venture funding

AI startups for the first time captured half of global venture funding in Q4 2024. Since then, that percentage has hovered around 50% 鈥� until Q1 of this year, when 鈥檚 record-setting round, along with a small handful of other enormous deals, pushed AI鈥檚 share to 80% of the quarterly funding total.

Top 4 vs. everyone else

It wasn鈥檛 just that AI as an industry captured the lion鈥檚 share of venture funding last quarter. Just four companies took nearly two-thirds of the entire pie, Crunchbase data shows.

Four of the five largest venture rounds ever recorded were closed in Q1 2026, with frontier labs OpenAI ($122 billion), ($30 billion), ($20 billion) and self-driving company ($16 billion) collectively raising $188 billion, or nearly 65% of global venture investment in the quarter.

Deal count falls even as dollars surge

And while last quarter set an all-time record for venture dollars invested, more money went to fewer companies, continuing an overall downward trend for deal count we鈥檝e seen since the beginning of 2021.

That was the case not just in North America, where dollars invested surged 190% year over year, even as deal count dropped 26%. It also held true in Europe and Latin America. Only Asia saw a modest 5% bump in deal count along with more dollars invested.

Related Crunchbase queries:

Related reading:

• Q1 2026 Shatters Venture Funding Records As AI Boom Pushes Startup Investment To $300B
• North America Q1 Funding Surges Across Stages To Record Level
• Global Investors Help Boost Latin America鈥檚 Late-Stage Funding Boom In Q1
• China Leads Asia鈥檚 Startup Funding To Its Highest Level In More Than 3 Years
• AI Drives Europe鈥檚 Second Straight Quarter Of Funding Gain As Deal Volume Falls Sharply

Illustration: