The AI industry entered 2025 with strong momentum.
There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch; three companies raised more than one “mega-round,” and seven companies raised rounds that were $1 billion in size or larger.
The industry didn’t slow down in 2025. While less companies raised rounds larger than $1 billion, four — Anthropic raised two rounds over $1 billion — significantly more companies raised multiple rounds compared to 2024, eight.
How will 2026 compare? Elon Musk’s xAI announced a $20 billion Series E round and Sam Altman’s brain computer interface startup Merge Labs raised a $250 million seed round (with OpenAI as the lead investor) in the first few weeks of 2026, so signs point to another strong year. Of course, it’s still early; we’ll be watching to see if the momentum continues.
Here are all the U.S. AI companies that raised $100 million this year:
December:
Austin, Texas-based Mythic, which builds power-efficient compute for AI, raised a $125 million venture round that was led by DCVC. The round was announced on December 17 and included SoftBank, NEA and Linse Capital, among other investors.
Chai Discovery announced a $130 million Series B round on December 15. The round valued the company that builds AI models for biotech and drug discovery at $1.2 billion. Oak HC/FT and General Catalyst co-led the round.
Generative media platform Fal announced its third funding round of 2025 on December 9. This $140 million Series D round was led by Sequoia and valued the company at more than $4.5 billion.
Unconventional AI announced a monster $475 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreesen Horowitz on December 8. The round valued the one-year-old startup, which is rethinking the foundation of computers in the age of AI, at nearly $4.5 billion.
... continue reading