Crunchbase data shows global startup investment reached $300 billion across 6,000 companies in Q1 2026, surpassing all prior quarterly records and roughly equaling 70% of all 2026 VC spending. AI captured $242 billion — 80% of the total — up from 55% of a smaller pool in Q1 2025, with four mega-rounds alone (OpenAI $122B, Anthropic $30B, xAI $20B, Waymo $16B) accounting for 65% of global venture investment for the quarter. Venture funding to foundational AI startups in Q1 alone doubled the total for all of 2025.