Venture capital (VC) funding has hit an all time global high for the first 6 months of 2026. This is according to data compiled by Crunchbase.
The report shares that $510 billion was raised from January to June 2026 compared to $440 billion during the same period in 2025.
What should come as no surprise to anyone who is awake, much of the funding has been driven by the red hot artificial intelligence (AI) sector. In fact, the data indicates that OpenAI and Anthropic accounted for $217 billion or 43% of all the funding.
Q1 2026 was a record quarter with $304.9 billion raised followed Q2 at $205 billion was raised with 70% of the money going into AI firms.
Later stage firms captured most of the funding which is typical.
2026 is well on track to become a blowout year for private securities primary offerings.
The report also noted that the market experienced a “turning point” for liquidity as it experienced the strongest exit market since 2021.
