Global venture investment reached $300 billion across approximately 6,000 startups in Q1 2026—up more than 150% year-on-year—marking an all-time quarterly high, per Crunchbase. AI companies received $242 billion, or 80% of the total. Four of the five largest venture rounds ever recorded closed in the quarter: OpenAI ($122B), Anthropic ($30B), xAI ($20B), and Waymo ($16B), together accounting for 65% of global venture investment. Foundational AI startup funding in Q1 alone doubled all of 2025.