5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: A Credit Card Backed By Mineral Rights, Flying Ferries, And A Foundation AI Model For Plants
In a quarter when nearly two-thirds of global venture capital went to just four companies, it’s easy to lose track of the many other companies getting funding to tackle interesting problems. We spotted five companies in just the past month working on issues from cleaner ferries and trains to foundat
Most Active And Highest-Spending Startup Investors Diverged In Q1
The investors backing the highest number of startup rounds in a record-setting Q1 were mostly not the ones writing the biggest checks. And the ones funding the largest deals were not the most prolific dealmakers. To see who ranked high for deal counts and totals, we looked at active investors across
North America Q1 Funding Surges Across Stages To Record Level
U.S. and Canadian companies secured a staggering $252.6 billion in seed- through growth-stage funding rounds in the first quarter of 2026 per Crunchbase data. That’s more than 3x the total raised in the prior quarter, and the largest quarterly total of all time.
Just Because We Can: The Strategic Risks Of Automating Everything
While AI and automation can be powerful, many applications use complex global systems to solve simple problems that could be handled locally. Guest author Itay Sagie shares three risks of undisciplined automation of everything, urging more thoughtful and disciplined use of technology.
This Is A Momentous Year For Early-Stage Unicorns
A total of 47 seed- and early stage companies joined the unicorn ranks in the first quarter of this year, per Crunchbase data. Barring a major slowdown, that puts 2026 on track to deliver the largest cohort of young unicorns to date.
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Largest Financings Went To Defense, Wearables, Energy And Security
Startup investors kept up the busy dealmaking pace this week with a number of big rounds. Top among them was a $1.75 billion Series D for Austin-based Saronic, developer of autonomous vessels.
Sector Snapshot: Venture Funding To Foundational AI Startups In Q1 Was Double All Of 2025
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. That’s also significantly higher — 466.9% higher to be exact — than the $31.4 billion raised across 52 deals in 2024.
Exclusive: Anvil Robotics Raises $5.5M to Build ‘Legos for Robots’ Platform For Physical AI Teams
Anvil Robotics, an eight-month-old startup that aims to be the “Legos for robots,” has raised $5.5 million in a seed funding round, it tells Crunchbase News exclusively.
Exclusive: Miravoice, Builder Of An AI ‘Interviewer’ To Conduct Phone Surveys, Raises $6.3M
Miravoice, a startup using AI voice agents to conduct long-form phone surveys, has raised $6.3 million in a seed funding round, the company tells Crunchbase News exclusively.
Q1 2026 Shatters Venture Funding Records As AI Boom Pushes Startup Investment To $300B
The first quarter of 2026 was unlike any other for venture investment, driven by unprecedented spending on AI compute and frontier labs. Crunchbase data shows investors poured $300 billion into 6,000 startups globally in the quarter, up over 150% quarter over quarter and year over year, marking an a
The Largest Recent Seed Rounds Are All For AI Companies
A majority of top seed funding recipients in the past six months operate at the intersection of AI and the physical world. Using Crunchbase data, we take a look at some of the sector's biggest seed rounds in recent months.
Whoop’s Wearable Fitness Tech Lands $575M From Athletes, Celebrities, Institutional Investors To Reach $10.1B Valuation
Whoop, which provides wearable fitness technology and a subscription platform that tracks physiological data for insights, announced Tuesday that it raised $575 million in Series G funding at a $10.1 billion valuation.
Austin’s Star Is Still Shining Bright: Venture Funding To City’s Startups Hits All-Time High
Austin’s startup scene is stronger than ever. That’s the consensus among investors in the city, and it’s borne out by Crunchbase data, which shows startups headquartered in the Lone Star State’s capital raised a record $7.19 billion in venture funding in 2025.
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: A Varied Week For Big Deals, Led By AI And Defense
The pace of large-scale dealmaking picked up some this week, led by OpenAI’s disclosure that it raised another $10 billion. Other big financings went to startups and growth-stage companies in sectors including defense tech, enterprise AI, autonomy and even laundry.
Seed Funding Hasn’t Stalled, But It’s Skewing Larger And Is More Competitive Than Ever, Crunchbase Data Shows
Among U.S. seed funding deals, it’s only the upper bands of larger and outlier seed rounds — those $10 million and above — that grew in 2025, Crunchbase data shows.
Data: OpenAI Has Already Done Nearly As Many M&A Deals In 2026 As It Did All of Last Year
San Francisco-based OpenAI has turned to M&A to boost its offerings and stay ahead of its rivals through acquisitions, which total 17 companies in the past three years, Crunchbase data shows.
Exclusive: YC Doubles Down On Trayd, A Construction Tech Startup That Just Raised $10M In 3 Weeks
Trayd, a startup that is building a back office operating system for the construction industry, has raised $10 million in Series A funding, it tells Crunchbase News exclusively.
Kleiner Perkins Raises $3.5B For AI-Focused Funds
Kleiner Perkins' fundraise includes $1 billion for KP22, a fund to back early-stage companies, and $2.5 billion targeted for growth-stage investments.
US Startup Funding Slows Sharply In March
The slowdown is almost entirely due to fewer giant AI megarounds closing this month.
The Tax Credit Opportunities Startups Often Forget (And Why It Keeps Happening)
Startups often miss out on valuable tax credits because they lack processes to identify, document and claim them throughout the year, writes guest author Harrison Garba. By proactively integrating tax credit planning into hiring, operations and financial decisions, he says, companies can reduce cost