The year 2026 is off to a staggering start for AI startup funding. In less than two months, nearly twenty U.S.-based AI startups have already secured mega-rounds of one hundred million dollars or more. If these initial weeks are any indicator, the market is poised for another year of enormous funding rounds and remarkable valuations. This follows a massive 2025, where U.S. AI startups raised over seventy-six billion dollars through such mega-rounds. Whether 2026 will match or exceed that success remains to be seen.
Here is a list of all U.S.-based AI startups that have raised one hundred million dollars or more so far this year.
In February, Simile, which builds AI to mimic human decisions, raised a one hundred million dollar Series A round led by Index Ventures. The round was announced on February twelfth and included Hanabi Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and multiple angel investors.
Anthropic announced a thirty billion dollar Series G funding round on February twelfth that valued the AI research lab at three hundred eighty billion dollars. More than thirty investors participated, including Founders Fund, Coatue, and Nvidia.
Media-generation platform Runway raised a three hundred fifteen million dollar Series E round that valued the company at five point three billion dollars. This funding was led by General Atlantic and announced on February tenth. Nvidia, Fidelity, and Felicis also invested.
Goodfire, an AI research lab, announced a one hundred fifty million dollar Series B round on February fifth. B Capital led the round with participation from Juniper Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures, valuing the company at one point two five billion dollars.
AI research company Fundamental announced a two hundred fifty-five million dollar Series A round on February fifth, valuing the company at one point four billion dollars. Investors included Oak HC/FT, Salesforce Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and QP Ventures.
Voice AI company ElevenLabs raised a five hundred million dollar Series D round announced on February fourth. The round was led by Sequoia and valued the company at eleven billion dollars.
In January, PaleBlueDot AI, a compute platform, raised a one hundred fifty million dollar Series B round that valued the startup at one billion dollars. The round was announced on January twenty-eighth and led by B Capital.
Conversational AI platform Decagon announced a two hundred fifty million dollar Series D round on January twenty-eighth. The round was co-led by Coatue and Index Ventures and valued the company at four point five billion dollars.
AI research lab Flapping Airplanes raised a one hundred eighty million dollar seed round led by Google Ventures, Sequoia, and Index Ventures. The round was announced on January twenty-eighth and valued the company at one point five billion dollars.
Baseten raised a three hundred million dollar Series E round that valued the AI infrastructure startup at five billion dollars. The round was led by IVP and CapitalG and announced on January twenty-third.
Inferact, an AI inference startup, raised a one hundred fifty million dollar seed round mere months after its founding. The round was announced on January twenty-second and gave the company an eight hundred million dollar valuation. It was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based OpenEvidence raised a two hundred fifty million dollar Series D round for its medical AI chatbot. The round was co-led by Thrive Global and DST Global and announced on January twenty-first, valuing OpenEvidence at twelve billion dollars.
AI research lab humans& raised a four hundred eighty million dollar seed round announced on January twentieth. Investors included Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and GV, valuing the young startup at four point four eight billion dollars.
SkildAI, which builds AI models to power robots, raised a one point four billion dollar Series C round that valued the startup at fourteen billion dollars. The round was announced on January fourteenth and led by SoftBank and Nvidia.
Voice AI platform Deepgram raised a one hundred thirty million dollar Series C round led by AVP, with participation from Tiger Global, ServiceNow Ventures, and Madrona. The round was announced on January thirteenth and valued the company at one point three billion dollars.
Arena, a large language model evaluation platform, raised a one hundred fifty million dollar Series A round co-led by Felicis and UC Investments. This round valued the one-year-old startup at one point seven billion dollars and was announced on January sixth.
Elon Musk’s xAI started the new year with a bang, announcing a twenty billion dollar Series E round on January sixth. Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, and the Qatar Investment Authority participated. The company was acquired by Musk’s SpaceX a few weeks later.