Last month, New York’s hottest venture firm, Thrive, raised ten billion dollars for a new fund, which was its largest ever and double the size of its previous one. Now, another big-name VC firm is attempting to equal that raise. General Catalyst is in talks to raise ten billion dollars, according to unnamed sources. This firm, which has recast itself as a broader financial services company, raised eight billion dollars just a couple of years ago in 2024.
Meanwhile, Spark Capital is trying to raise three billion dollars, sources report, which would also be a significant boost from its previous funds. Additionally, Founders Fund is about to close a new six billion dollar fund.
All of this follows Andreessen Horowitz’s fifteen billion dollars in new funding that was announced in January.
Venture firms were already sitting on a record amount of so-called dry powder, meaning money available but not yet invested, at the end of 2025, according to the year-end industry report. But 2026 is already shaping up as a year of bigger and more, at least for venture firms with name recognition and enviable portfolios.
The obvious prediction is that venture capitalists have plenty of money to keep fueling seed-stage AI startups with huge initial rounds and valuations. Record-breaking funding rounds for startups, as long as they are focused on AI, will likely continue to be the new normal for 2026.