Mexico鈥檚 startups led the LatAm pack in Q2 鈥� by a wide margin. The country鈥檚 startups raised $944 million in the second quarter, up 131% compared to $409 million in last year鈥檚 Q2, and up 136% from the $401 million raised in this year鈥檚 first quarter, per SA国际传媒 data. For comparison鈥檚 sake, that鈥檚 almost as much as Latin American startups as a whole raised in the second quarter of 2025.

Notably, Mexico-based companies accounted for the region鈥檚 three largest fundraising deals in the quarter ended June 30.

Meanwhile, Brazil-headquartered startups raised $350 million in Q2 2026, down 11% from the $363 million raised in Q2 2025, but up 20% from the $270 million raised in Q1 2026.

In general, a continued boom in late-stage and growth funding helped buoy the region for the period, SA国际传媒 data shows. Startups in Latin America raised a combined $1.36 billion across seed- and growth-stage deals in the second quarter, up 47% year over year and 22% from the first quarter.

For perspective, we charted out total investment, color-coded by stage, for the past 10 quarters below.

Of that total, $991 million went into late-stage and growth deals, up 84% year over year and 30% compared to the first quarter of 2026.

Round counts declined sequentially and year-over-year across angel, seed and early stages. (We expect the Q2 deal count to rise somewhat over time, however, as seed rounds in particular are commonly reported weeks or months after they close.)

Table of contents

• Late-stage boom
• Investor POV
• The US-LatAm connection
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Late-stage boom

There were five nine-figure raises in Latin America in the second quarter, and as mentioned earlier, three of those were by Mexico City-based companies. Interestingly, several of the deals were led by U.S.-based firms.

• In June, payments startup raised $500 million at a valuation exceeding $2.5 billion in a private-equity deal with undisclosed investors.
• In April, digital bank raised $405 million in a Series C round led by Miami-based at a $5 billion valuation.
• And in February, , a startup that operates a pre-owned car marketplace, raised $300 million in a Series F financing co-led by Laguna Beach, California-based and Menlo Park-based . Notably, the round was reported to be a16z鈥檚 largest investment in Latin America and the first in the region for its growth fund.

Other large deals in Latin America in the same period included a $195 million round for Argentinian digital bank in March, led by Germany鈥檚 at a $3.2 billion valuation. And, Sao Paulo-based legaltech startup raised a $100 million Series B led by San Francisco-based

Investor POV

Several investors who spoke with SA国际传媒 News described a somewhat slower pace in the region. , co-founder and general partner of New York-based , said the firm remains active, although its investments so far this year have been in U.S. and European companies. It has seen less early-stage fintech activity in Latin America but expects to make new investments in the region, given its current pipeline.

The region鈥檚 underlying fundamentals remain intact and fintech adoption continues to grow, he said.

, principal at Alexandria, Virginia-based , said her firm鈥檚 pace in Latin America has also slowed, largely because it is increasingly investing around global themes rather than individual geographies. As QED focuses more heavily on stablecoins and artificial intelligence, many of the most compelling startups it encounters operate globally, with Latin America representing one of several important markets, she said.

Within Latin America, QED generally invests at the later Series B stage.

, managing partner at Mexico City-based , said the firm鈥檚 investment pace has remained consistent.

Brazil and Mexico continue to attract the bulk of all three firms鈥� activity, but the investors noted that promising companies are also emerging elsewhere in the region.

Armaza cited portfolio successes including Uruguay-based , which was acquired this year by U.S. public company ; Argentina鈥檚 , which raised a $55 million Series C in January; and Venezuela鈥檚 , which serves CFOs and corporate treasury teams.

鈥淚 think this is an underrated LatAm story right now: The periphery is also producing big successes,鈥� he said.

The US-LatAm connection

The investors are also tracking an increasingly fluid relationship between Latin America and U.S. technology hubs.

Hi Ventures, which is now focused almost exclusively on AI applications, has expanded its strategy to include Latin American founders building companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. About half of its portfolio is based in San Francisco, including companies led by founders originally from Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

鈥淲e increasingly think of the ecosystem as one connected innovation network rather than separate geographies,鈥� Antoni said.

Armaza has observed a similar trend among both repeat and first-time entrepreneurs who are relocating to San Francisco or New York to build U.S. or global companies from the outset.

鈥淭he talent is still LatAm talent, but the company formation is increasingly happening here,鈥� he said.

The New York-based firm鈥檚 sector focus remains on early-stage companies developing financial and commercial infrastructure.

At QED, meanwhile, stablecoins, tokenization and digital assets have become a substantially larger part of the investment strategy than they were several years ago, particularly at the infrastructure layer. The firm is also interested in the intersection of AI and fintech, including applications that improve financial operations and customer experiences or broaden access to financial services.

Overall investment in Latin America remains far below its 2021 peak and has returned to roughly 2019 levels in both capital deployed and deal volume.

But today鈥檚 market differs from 2019 in one significant respect, Antoni noted: AI allows founders to build companies and reach meaningful milestones with considerably less capital. That shift may particularly benefit Latin American entrepreneurs accustomed to operating with limited resources.

鈥淭he region has always produced resourceful founders, and today鈥檚 environment rewards capital efficiency rather than aggressive spending,鈥� he said.

The threshold for securing funding, particularly at the Series A stage and beyond, has nevertheless risen considerably. Investors are still deploying capital, Antoni said, but more selectively.

Armaza noted that global investors have historically cycled in and out of Latin America, particularly firms without dedicated regional teams or local roots. But the region鈥檚 largest rounds in 2026 have attracted firms including , Andreessen Horowitz, , Allianz X and .

鈥淭his tells you that the best capital in the world finds great companies, regardless of macro sentiment,鈥� Armaza said.

Recent public-market activity by Brazilian fintech companies could further boost the funding prospects for later-stage startups. Gadala-Maria said the fact that two of fintech鈥檚 three IPOs have come from Brazil serves as an important signal that Latin America can produce durable, high-quality fintech companies capable of reaching sufficient scale to enter the public markets.

The newly public companies also provide comparables that investors can use to evaluate the next generation of later-stage Latin American fintech companies, potentially giving them greater confidence in underwriting those businesses. QED has several Latin American portfolio companies that could pursue public listings if market conditions and timing were favorable, Gadala-Maria said.

Related reading:

• Where Argentina And Spain Are Scoring Startup Goals

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from SA国际传媒, and is based on reported data. Data is as of July 9, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

SA国际传媒 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to SA国际传媒 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. SA国际传媒 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. SA国际传媒 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

It was not a holiday week on the funding front, as a raft of largely AI-focused companies closed big rounds. The largest of these was a $1.5 billion financing to enterprise AI startup and a Series D for meal and delivery provider . The week also included some big financings for enterprise tech, food delivery, drones and construction automation.

1. , $1.5B, enterprise AI tools: Fireworks AI, a developer of tools for enterprises to turn 鈥済eneral-purpose models into specialized intelligence trained on their own data,鈥� raised $1.505 billion in Series D funding. , and led the financing, which set a $17.5 billion valuation for the San Mateo, California-based company.

2. , $650M, meals and delivery: Wonder, an operator of kitchens and meal delivery services, closed on $650 million in Series D funding at a $9 billion pre-money valuation. Capital will go in part toward expanding operations for the New York-based company, which currently has 140 locations.

3. , $400M, life sciences AI: AI drug discovery startup Chai Discovery secured $400 million in Series C funding at a $3.8 billion valuation. led the financing, investing alongside , , and others.

4. , $300M, robots: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Walden Robotics, a startup building general-purpose robots for work in manufacturing and logistics, launched out of stealth with $300 million in funding. and led the round, which values the company at $1.1 billion.

5. , $125M, drones: Seattle-based Brinc, a developer of drones for use in public safety and emergency operations, raised $125 million in fresh funding. led the financing, with participation from , and founder and CEO .

6. (tied) , $100M, construction automation: Austin-based TerraFirma, a developer of AI-enabled software and autonomous robotics technology for the construction industry, landed $100 million in new funding, bringing total investment to date to $115 million.

6. (tied) , $100M, enterprise AI: Spectro Cloud, a provider of AI infrastructure management software, said it raised more than $100 million in a Series D round led by . The financing brings total capital raised by San Jose-based Spectro Cloud to $260 million.

8. , $80M, defense tech: Singularity, a startup focused on developing air defense technology, emerged from stealth with $80 million in Series A funding. and 1听led the financing, which set a $400 million valuation for the Los Angeles-based company.

9. (tied) , $70M, fintech: San-Francisco-based fintech startup Flex, a private banking platform for high-net-worth business owners, raised $70 million in a Series B1 financing led by . The round follows the company’s $60 million Series B in December.

9. (tied) , $70M, AI and policy: State Affairs, an AI platform for policy and regulation, secured $70 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures and .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the SA国际传媒 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of July 11-17. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

For this matchup, 鈥溌ooooooooool!鈥� is really the only acceptable way to announce a new score. And if you can make that a good 21 seconds in one breath, all the better.

Here at SA国际传媒 News, meanwhile, we鈥檝e been prepping for the final in a less vocally demanding but much more data-intense manner. Since both contenders are far more famous for soccer than accomplishments in the startup realm, we figured a small step to rectify that was in order.

To do this, we put together a snapshot of recent startup funding tallies and trends for both Spain and Argentina. As you鈥檒l see, neither accounts for a particularly large share of global or even regional investment. Both however, have an intriguing pipeline of recently funded companies.

Argentina

We鈥檒l start with our second World Cup-related profile of Argentina. After it won the final in 2022, we wrote a venture funding-themed story calling the country鈥檚 startup scene 鈥渟mall, scrappy and sometimes very successful.鈥�

Four years later, that description still holds. Argentinian startups typically pull in a few hundred million dollars in venture funding annually. Investment is, however, lower than for Brazil and Mexico, the two most populous Latin American nations, which commonly lead in funding.

Argentina鈥檚 startup ecosystem has also delivered some big hits over the years. The most famous Argentine-founded internet company 鈥� online marketplace 听 鈥� commands a market cap around $94 billion on . (It鈥檚 currently headquartered in Uruguay but traces its roots to a Buenos Aires garage.)

More recently, Buenos Aires-based fintech has been making waves in the regional startup scene. It鈥檚 raised $1.1 billion in known funding to date, including a $195 million March financing.

Others that have raised good-sized rounds this year are also in the fintech space, including:

• , a payments infrastructure startup, closed on a $55 million Series C round co-led by and .
• , a provider of payments and collections infrastructure, secured $27 million in Series B funding in February.

So far, 2026 is shaping up as a strong year for funding, with investment already ahead of last year鈥檚 total. Funding tends to fluctuate quite a bit from year to year as the presence or absence of a single large round or two can heavily skew the totals.

Spain

Oddsmakers say Spain is the favorite going into the final. However, it鈥檚 well known that often the underdog also prevails. That was the lesson from Spain鈥檚 2:0 defeat of favorite France this week.

But while it may have prevailed over France in soccer, Spain continues to lag in venture funding. So far in 2026, Spanish startups have raised less than $2 billion in funding across stages, which is roughly one-third France鈥檚 total for the same period.

While not large, Spain鈥檚 funded startup pipeline is not lacking in pizazz. Take this year鈥檚 largest funding recipient 鈥� 鈥� which closed a $206 million Series C in March. Its anything-but-modest mission is to be a 鈥済lobal space transportation service provider to support cargo and human spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars.鈥�

Other standouts among the bigger rounds this year include:

• , an AI-enabled HR and payroll platform, scooped up $150 million in Series D funding at a $2.5 billion valuation in June. To date, the Barcelona-based company has raised over $350 million in equity funding.
• 听, a Madrid startup focused on infrastructure for near space, space tourism and aerospace data, closed on $140 million in Series D funding in May.
• , a Madrid-based developer of AI tools for analyzing geospatial data, picked up $130 million in Series B funding in April.

Overall funding to Spanish startups is also trending higher, with 2026 on track for a year-over-year gain. For the past few years, annual Spanish startup funding has ranged between $1.8 billion and $2.8 billion, as charted below.

Rooting for the underdog

While both Spain and Argentina have a long track record of soccer success, a case could be made that both are underdogs in the startup space. It鈥檚 a familiar situation for secondary hubs in the current AI-driven investment cycle. Capital has been concentrating even more heavily in Silicon Valley and other leading venture hubs.

Given all the follow-on effects a successful startup can have on its region, it鈥檇 be encouraging to see investors spreading their bets more broadly across a wider geography. Spain and Argentina have already proven they have what it takes to prevail in one very competitive arena. Given the capital and opportunity, there鈥檚 no reason to doubt their abilities in the venture-backed startup game either.

Related SA国际传媒 queries:

The purported deal, which has been rumored for months, is notable not just for its scale 鈥� it would be one of the largest acquisitions of a technology company in recent years 鈥� but also for its highly unusual nature. Privately held startups typically lack the cash, publicly traded shares and debt capacity to acquire their publicly listed brethren.

Of course, Stripe is not just any privately held company. The fintech startup was, until just a few short years ago, the highest valued startup based in the U.S., before being eclipsed on that metric by AI labs and . In February, the company announced it had inked deals with investors to provide liquidity to current and former employees through a tender offer at a $159 billion valuation, which still ranks it as the fourth most valuable startup in the world.

With substantial private capital 鈥� it has raised some $10.4 billion since inception, 鈥斕齋tripe has long been one of the most acquisitive venture-backed startups. It has made since its 2010 inception, according to SA国际传媒 data. Only three have disclosed prices: stablecoin platform at $1.1 billion (2025), usage-based billing software startup at $1 billion (2026), and Nigerian payments startup at $200 million (2020).

Stripe鈥檚 M&A pace has also accelerated sharply since 2020, SA国际传媒 data shows, with 13 of its 21 acquisitions announced since then.

Its recent strategy appears to be focused on stablecoins and crypto infrastructure 鈥� Bridge, , and 鈥斕齛s well as on billing and money movement through Metronome, payment processing startup and .

If the plan to buy PayPal does go through, it will most certainly make Stripe an even more formidable player in the crowded payments space.

It would also rank as one of the largest acquisitions of a U.S. tech company, public or private, of the past five years, according to SA国际传媒 data, trailing only a handful of larger deals including $61 billion purchase of in 2022 and 鈥檚 acquisition of AI coding platform Cursor and its parent, , for $60 billion last month.

Related SA国际传媒 queries:

Related reading:

• Cursor Deal Puts US On Track For Record Startup M&A Year

Illustration:

All told, fintech startups raised $28.6 billion globally in the first half of 2026, a 22.7% increase from the first half of 2025, but down 17.3% compared to the $34.6 billion raised in the second half of last year. (It鈥檚 important to note that H2 2025 marked the strongest six-month funding period for fintech startups since the second half of 2022.)

Fintech funding in the first half of 2026 also topped the sector鈥檚 investment totals in 2020 and the pre-pandemic year of 2019, though they remain lower than the peak funding year of 2021 as well as 2018.

Historically, the United States has led the globe when it comes to fintech funding, and the first half of this year was no exception. More than 52% 鈥� $15 billion 鈥� of the global fintech funding in H1 flowed into companies based in the U.S. The United Kingdom was the second-largest recipient of capital, with companies there raising a collective $2.7 billion. India came in third, with a total of $1.9 billion raised, SA国际传媒 data shows.

Deal count drops

Even as dollar volume climbed, deal flow into venture-backed fintech startups fell fairly significantly in H1 2026, SA国际传媒 data shows. The first half of the year saw 1,605 funding deals announced in the sector, a 25.7% decline from the more than 2,161 completed in H1 2025 and down 40% from H1 2024.

Where investors are placing their bets

Active fintech investors who spoke with SA国际传媒 News said they see a split market emerging.

In general, the startup investment market has been cleaved into two extremes, with funding either pouring into brand-new companies or concentrating into a tiny handful of larger, established giants, according to , a partner at (Google Ventures).

The fintech sector is following the same pattern, Sakach told SA国际传媒 News via email, but its biggest players are using their size in an unusual way. 鈥�2026 marks the definitive ‘lab-i-fication’ of the modern corporation,” she noted, with some fintech platforms using their scale and steady profits to fund experimental new divisions.

Because these companies have significant data and distribution advantages, they are becoming magnets for top-tier workers, according to Sakach. For instance, she said, is now competing directly with top AI research labs for engineering talent, while is using its dominant position to build out new products in enterprise billing and blockchain.

For early-stage startups inside the U.S., the focus is shifting away from copying legacy financial services toward creating entirely new categories.

Wealth management is seeing a massive surge, driven by an influx of assets from a younger generation demanding AI tools, Sakach pointed out.

Fintech startups are also targeting massive, hidden corporate headaches.

鈥淎 50% reduction in global chargebacks is a ~$60 billion opportunity when accounting for both the merchant and banking overhead,鈥� she said.

The biggest shift, however, is happening around artificial intelligence and financial services. 鈥淐oding was AI’s first killer use case; financial markets could be the second, given its extraordinarily broad corpus of data,鈥� said Sakach, pointing to new concepts such as automated hedge funds and prediction markets.

, partner at , said the firm鈥檚 investments into the fintech sector have surged this year, as areas such as money movement infrastructure, stablecoins and tracking of real-world assets on the blockchain draw attention.

鈥淲e’ve never been busier: The quality of founders, the size of the markets they’re going after, and the maturity of the technology being built has never been more impressive,鈥� he said.

Those trends showed up among fintech鈥檚 largest fundraisers last quarter, with companies such as New York-based , which is building an agentic decision platform for banks and insurers, and , an African payments infrastructure startup, clinching some of the period鈥檚 largest funding deals. Both raises took place in June, with Taktile raising a $110 million Series C funding round led by and Flutterwave landing a Series E round of an undisclosed amount that valued the company at $3.2 billion.

Risks and opportunities

Even with a wealth of new opportunities in the sector, investors are also wary of the risks introduced by AI and hype around businesses that don鈥檛 have a clear path toward growth or profitability.

Sakach was particularly skeptical of new stablecoin networks that lack a clear way to get users, personal credit card startups with tough profit margins, and traditional banking software.

The problem with selling software to legacy banks is that their slow buying cycles 鈥渆ffectively break the hypervelocity speed needed for AI-level product evolution,鈥� she said. Instead, Sakach believes that AI tools will likely succeed by embedding highly specialized engineering teams directly into specific business units.

The era of the generic digital bank or basic payment app is largely over, in Overdorff鈥檚 view: 鈥淲ithout a real wedge or distribution advantage, it’s hard to build a durable business there.”

The real value of AI right now is its ability to act as the central engine for financial products rather than just a side feature, Overdorff believes. Startups are using the technology to compress complex underwriting, fraud detection and advisory workflows 鈥渢hat used to take teams of analysts weeks into tasks that happen in minutes.鈥�

As a result, traditional industries such as tax and audit are being completely upended, he said.

Traditional financial institutions, which are usually the slowest to adopt new tech, are finally bringing AI into their core operations, though Overdorff cautioned 鈥渢hat shift is opening up as much risk as opportunity.鈥�

He also flagged the cybersecurity risks associated with the rapid adoption of new technologies and AI into the financial system. 鈥淭he compliance and governance layer becomes just as important as the AI itself,鈥� he wrote.

Mega-valuations keep top fintechs private

While the fintech IPO market was robust in 2025, it has been markedly quieter in the U.S. so far this year. Three fintech companies went public in the first half of 2026, and they were all foreign companies opting to list in New York: Brazil鈥檚 and and Japan鈥檚 . That鈥檚 the same number of finance-related startups that went public in the first half of 2025, when , and made their debuts.

Many of the fintech companies expected to list in 2026 have remained private, often at escalating valuations. That includes fintech giants such as Stripe, , Ramp, , and others that have opted for more private financing, secondary sales or simply waiting out the public markets.

For example, in February, payments infrastructure giant Stripe announced it had inked deals with investors to provide liquidity to current and former employees through a tender offer at a $159 billion valuation. That valuation represented an impressive 49% increase from the $106.7 billion Stripe was valued at in September, when it completed .

In early June, expense management startup Ramp announced a $750 million funding round at a $44 billion valuation, just a few months after raising $300 million at a $32 billion valuation.

The H2 outlook

The trend of capital concentration seen in the first half of the year will continue into H2, Overdorff predicted, with 鈥渕ega-rounds for a small set of category leaders, and a tougher fundraising environment for everyone else.鈥�

And while AI adoption will continue to deepen rather than flatten out, the industry will also be watching the stock market closely. The conversation around IPOs is heating up for mature fintech companies, though Overdorff notes that 鈥渢he timing may hinge on how other high-profile tech IPOs perform this year.鈥�

Related SA国际传媒 query:

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

AI once again dominated venture funding this week, claiming five of the 10 largest announced rounds, including a pair of billion-dollar financings for AI infrastructure and cybersecurity that led the pack. Investors also continued to back quantum computing, geothermal energy, crypto infrastructure and aerospace startups with large checks. Let鈥檚 take a look.

1. (tied) , $1B, cybersecurity: Keyfactor raised a $1 billion private equity round led by. Other investors in the private equity round for the Independence, Ohio-based company included and . Keyfactor provides digital identity and machine identity management software that helps enterprises secure certificates, encryption keys and connected devices. It has now raised $1.21 billion to date, .

1. (tied) , $1B, AI infrastructure: Palo Alto, California-based SambaNova officially announced a long-awaited $1 billion Series F deal at an $11 billion post-money valuation led by. A of other investors joined the round, including ,,,,, and. SambaNova develops AI chips and enterprise AI infrastructure for training and inference workloads. The company has raised nearly $2.5 billion to date, .

3. , $300M, quantum computing: , and co-led a sizable $300 million Series A for South Pasadena, California-based quantum startup Oratomic. A of 16听 investors participated in the round, including , , , co-founder , and computer scientist . Oratomic is developing neutral-atom quantum hardware and fault-tolerant architectures designed to accelerate the commercialization of quantum computing, an area that has seen robust venture investment in recent years.

4. , $134M, clean energy: Houston-based Quaise Energy raised a $134 million Series B led by . Additional investors included , and. Quaise is developing millimeter-wave drilling technology to unlock deep geothermal energy, an emerging source of carbon-free power. To date, the company has raised $225 million.

5. , $130M, artificial intelligence: San Francisco-based Prime Intellect raised a $130 million Series A led by . A of investors 鈥� many of them prominent Silicon Valley figures 鈥斕齤oined, including CEO , CEO听 , co-founder , CEO and co-CEO . Corporate investors , and also backed the round. Prime is building an open platform for training and deploying AI models across distributed compute networks. It has now raised $200.4 million total, .

6. , $125M, crypto infrastructure: New York-based Gauntlet raised a $125 million Series B, with Japan鈥檚 as the sole investor. The company develops simulation, risk management and optimization software for decentralized finance protocols.

7. , $120M, artificial intelligence: New York-based Norm AI secured a $120 million Series C led by at a reported $1.2 billion valuation to expand its AI-powered regulatory compliance platform. The company develops AI systems that translate complex laws and regulations into software to help enterprises automate their compliance workflows. The latest funding included a long list of other venture, corporate and individual backers including , , , and , the chairman of and former president of , which also participated in Norm AI鈥檚 deal. The startup has now raised just over $256 million, .

8. , $91M, aerospace and defense: Aerospace continues to draw substantial investor attention, as was the case this week with Houston-based Venus Aerospace鈥檚 $91 million Series B. backed the round, which will be used to advance development of Venus鈥� hypersonic propulsion technology. The company is building engines and aircraft designed to dramatically reduce long-distance flight times while supporting future defense applications. It has now raised $197 million total. An of investors joined in its Series B, including , , , and .

9. , $76M, fintech: Digital asset exchange EDX Markets raised $76 million as institutional interest in crypto trading infrastructure continues to grow. The deal was backed by sole investor , marking the second large crypto funding deal for the Japanese firm this week, along with Gauntlet鈥檚 aforementioned round. EDX operates a marketplace designed specifically for institutional investors. It鈥檚 not clear how much it raised in previous rounds.

10. , $67.4M, biotechnology: Philadelphia-based Fore Biotherapeutics (previously known as NovellusDx) raised $67.4 million in Series D funding to advance its precision oncology therapies targeting rare cancer mutations. The company is developing targeted treatments for patients whose tumors are driven by specific genetic alterations. led the latest round, which brings its total to date to just over $274 million. , , , and other investors also joined.

Large non-US deals:

Several startups based outside the U.S. also raised notable fundings this week. They include:

• , 鈧�411M, fusion energy: Munich-based Proxima Fusion raised a 鈧�411 million (about $468 million) Series B funding round to develop what鈥檚 poised to become Europe鈥檚 first commercial fusion energy power plant. Lead investors in the round include , , and .
• , 鈧�200M, workplace tech: led the 鈧�200 million ($229 million) private-equity round for Paris-based Skello, which makes HR software for employers to handle tasks such as payroll, scheduling, compliance and employee communications.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the SA国际传媒 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of July 4-10. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

Our inboxes overflowed with interesting deals in the past month, but we managed to sift through them all to find the five most intriguing ones.

They include a startup that鈥檚 simultaneously developing AI models for biology and trying to prevent the threats that stem from those types of advances, a company that says it wants to prevent modern day private markets from the kind of paperwork crisis that shut down Wall Street in the ’60s, and AI agents that can dispatch plumbers and electricians to your door.

$50M for ‘general biological intelligence’

AI has conquered text, images and code. Now one startup wants to do the same for DNA.

San Francisco-based last month emerged from stealth with a hefty $50 million seed round led by , with participation from , , and . The startup said it also received pre-seed backing from co-founder .

Radical Numerics was founded by the team behind , one of the first AI models capable of reading and generating DNA sequences at scale. The startup鈥檚 mission is even more ambitious: building what it calls 鈥済eneral biological intelligence,鈥� or multimodal AI models that can reason across DNA, RNA, proteins and other biological data to accelerate drug discovery, cancer diagnostics and biosecurity.

Alongside the funding, the company previewed Omnii, its next-generation genome language model.

The company’s dual focus on human health and biodefense reflects a growing theme in frontier AI investing. SA国际传媒 data shows that as models become increasingly capable of designing biological systems, investors have poured tens of millions of dollars into startups that promise not only to accelerate scientific discovery, but also help detect and defend against AI-generated biological threats.

鈥淓vo showed that AI can generate DNA and whole genomes, the next generation of models will go further with the ability to control function, and eventually, create entirely new forms of life,鈥� Radical Numerics CEO said in a statement. 鈥淥ur multimodal models are already far more capable, and we understand the responsibility that comes with that. The same models that can help cure disease may also lower the barrier to designing harmful biology. These forces are inseparable. Biology will be the most consequential application of AI.鈥�

Related SA国际传媒 query:

$40M for AI that dispatches the plumber

The AI gold rush has reached an unlikely destination: your local plumber and HVAC company. New York-based said last month that it has raised $40 million in new funding: a $34 million Series A led by and a $6 million seed round led by , with Sequoia also participating in the Series A.

The startup is building what it calls an AI operating system for home service businesses, from plumbers and electricians to HVAC contractors. Rather than adding yet another AI chatbot or voice agent, Probook says it aims to replace the patchwork of software many contractors use with a single platform centered on dispatch, arguably the most critical function in the business.

Its software ties together customer intake, scheduling, messaging and outbound communications so technicians spend less time waiting for jobs and office staff spend less time coordinating them.

“I started Probook to solve a problem in my own business,” Probook CEO and co-founder said in a statement. “I grew up pressure washing in upstate New York with my dad. Six summers in the truck. I spent two to three hours of my day driving between jobs. I’d be up on a ladder washing a house and miss calls because I couldn’t hear my phone ringing.”

The company is tapping into a growing trend of vertical AI startups targeting industries that have historically lagged in software adoption, and they鈥檙e seeing keen enthusiasm from investors betting that trades such as plumbing, electrical and HVAC represent a massive opportunity to automate workflows and potentially boost profit margins for businesses that still run much of their operations by phone, clipboard and spreadsheet.

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$25M for subterranean warfare

Defense investors have poured billions into startups developing drones and missiles for the sky, tanks and other vehicles for land warfare, and autonomous military vessels for the water.

But a newly funded startup, , is betting the next battlefield is below the ground. The Austin-based startup emerged from stealth last month with a $25 million seed round led by , with participation from a long list of other investors including , , , and , and strategic angels including and founders from and .

Traysar calls itself the world’s first “subterra” defense tech company. Rather than building systems for the skies or seas, it’s developing autonomous platforms that can tunnel underground, map subterranean networks, breach hardened infrastructure and deliver payloads beneath the Earth’s surface. It鈥檚 there that it says modern warfare is increasingly being conducted in places like Iran, with its underground nuclear bunkers; Gaza, which has a vast Hamas-built subterranean tunnel network; and Ukraine, which has moved more of its military infrastructure beneath the surface to protect it from aerial drone threats.

The startup, whose founding team includes former engineers from and , is developing two autonomous underground systems. The first is an excavator-type robot designed to navigate, map and breach tunnels from within, giving military operators a way to explore or disable underground networks without sending in troops.

The second is a high-speed burrowing platform that drills new underground access points and can carry payloads 鈥� from explosives to sensing equipment 鈥� beneath the surface, bringing tunnel-boring technology to the battlefield.

Through the first half of 2026, defense-tech startups globally raised nearly $15.8 billion, by far the largest funding half-year for the sector on record, per SA国际传媒 data. Of course, the vast majority of that has gone toward above-ground or marine technologies.

鈥淭he global defense industry has a vertical bias: hundreds of billions flow skyward into missiles, missile defense, drones, and counter-drone systems, while adversaries dig in building deeply buried facilities the U.S. cannot reliably strike, and cannot affordably keep disabled,鈥� Traysar in its funding announcement.

Related SA国际传媒 query:

$23.7M for AI growth tools for small businesses

Most AI startups chase large enterprise customers. is betting the neighborhood coffee shop and corner restaurant are the bigger opportunity.

The New York-based startup last month emerged from stealth with $23.7 million in funding, including a $19.5 million Series A led by . , ‘s , , , , and also participated.

Pie says it鈥檚 creating an AI-powered growth platform that helps local merchants get discovered听 across AI search platforms like ChatGPT and Claude where customers increasingly begin their searches, as well as more traditional marketing channels like Maps, and .

The company also unveiled Front Desk, an AI agent that it says can answer calls around the clock, book appointments and handle customer inquiries when business owners can’t get to the phone.

Founded by former and executives, Pie says it has already reached thousands of businesses through partnerships with industry software providers while operating in stealth.

鈥淧ie is bringing AI to Main Street by starting with one of the biggest pain points for small business owners: finding new customers,鈥� , partner at Lightspeed, said in a statement. 鈥淐ustomer acquisition is a powerful entry point, but the broader vision is to build an AI platform that can support small businesses across more of their daily operations over time.鈥�

Related SA国际传媒 query:

$2M to tackle the private market paperwork crisis

Wall Street once got so buried in paperwork that the shut down every Wednesday . Six decades later, Berlin-based thinks private markets are headed toward a similar reckoning and just raised $2 million to stop it.

The company鈥檚 pre-seed round was led by , with participation from and individuals from firms including and .

Founded by two early employees of fund administration startup , Nomerra is building AI agents for the operational work that keeps private capital markets running behind the scenes.

While public markets rely on standardized infrastructure, private markets still depend heavily on emails, PDFs, spreadsheets and disconnected software, the company said. Its software plugs into existing ERP systems, banking platforms and document repositories, then uses AI agents to read documents, reconcile information across systems and complete workflows such as fund accounting, treasury operations and transfer agency work.

At the same time, private markets are expected to swell from roughly $13 trillion today to more than $30 trillion over the coming years, according to Nomerra, even as the industry faces a shortage of qualified accounting and operations professionals.

Rather than replacing existing software, the company says it aims to automate the manual tasks that have traditionally required growing back-office teams.

鈥淭hink of how telephone operators used to connect one caller to another by plugging cables into a switchboard,鈥� , Nomerra co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. 鈥淭oday, the idea that humans once routed every phone call manually seems absurd. Private market operations are at the same turning point. In a few years, people will look back and wonder how any of this was ever done by hand.鈥�

Related SA国际传媒 query:

Related reading:

• 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: On-Demand Custom Manufacturing, Underwater Geothermal Energy, And Adventure Group Travel
• 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: A Law Firm Operating System, Building Defense Tech Near The Battlefield, And Cell-Based Milk
• 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Blood-Drawing Robots, Inboxes For AI Agents, Franchised Defense Manufacturing, And More

Illustration:

Within the region, U.K. startups gained significant share in Q2, raising more than $10 billion. That marked the third-largest funding quarter for the U.K. on record, and came in at less than $500 million below its peak quarter in 2021.

European startup M&A activity also picked up in Q1 and continued that momentum in Q2, even as public-market exits stayed subdued.

Table of contents

• Large rounds drive gains
• H1 2026 up 50%
• UK momentum builds
• By stage
• Looking ahead
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Large rounds drive gains

Four companies raised venture fundings of a billion dollars or more last quarter, accounting for 25% of all startup investment in the region in Q2, SA国际传媒 data shows.

Those billion-dollar-plus rounds were raised by an AI-centric group: -owned AI drug developer , which was spun out of ; green steel production manufacturer ; , which is developing robots for home and industrial applications; and , an AI lab founded by former DeepMind researchers.

However, most of the growth in funding year over year and quarter over quarter was driven by rounds of $100 million and over. The majority of funding 鈥� 65% 鈥斕齱ent to a group of 42 companies that raised rounds of $100 million-plus. Sectors that stood out for these companies include听 biotech, quantum, financial services, AI labs, aerospace, semiconductor, robotics and energy.

H1 2026 up 50%

Funding to Europe-based startups in H1 was up 50% year over year to total $42 billion, SA国际传媒 data shows. Still, the region鈥檚 startup investment for the first half of the year remained well below the 2021 H1 peak, when VC funding in Europe totaled $60 billion.

It鈥檚 also drastically lower than the $392 billion raised in North America鈥檚 record-setting H1, with that region鈥檚 funding up 158% year over year.

Europe鈥檚 funding deal count subsided last quarter, but mostly at the seed stage. Late-stage rounds were up a bit, while early-stage deals dipped slightly year over year. (It鈥檚 worth noting, seed stage rounds are often added to the SA国际传媒 data set after the close of the quarter, so those numbers will increase over time.)

UK momentum builds

The United Kingdom widened its venture-funding lead last quarter, as startups based in the country raised $10.4 billion 鈥� not far from the peak in 2021 at $10.8 billion.

The region鈥檚 No. 2 startup market, Germany, trailed with $3.2 billion raised by its startups in Q2, and France followed in third place with $2.4 billion. Sweden was Europe鈥檚 fourth-largest startup market last quarter, with its companies raising $2 billion.

SA国际传媒 data shows funding to Europe鈥檚 AI-focused companies reached more than $10 billion in Q2 鈥� the largest quarterly amount so far 鈥� but slightly below the Q1 percentage, when those companies raised more than half of the region鈥檚 startup investment.

By stage

Europe鈥檚 late-stage funding totaled $12.1 billion in Q2, up 90% year over year. Large Series C and D rounds were raised by Germany-based robotics developer Neura Robotics; Netherlands-based , which makes inspection tools for semiconductor manufacturing; U.K.-based quantum computing startup ; and Germany-based satellite launcher .

Early-stage funding reached $8.6 billion across 250-plus Europe-based startups last quarter, SA国际传媒 data shows. Large Series A and Series B rounds were raised by London-based Isomorphic Labs, London-based AI self-learning lab , Germany-based fusion energy company , London-based semiconductor developer , and London-based quantum processor provider .

European seed funding totaled $3.2 billion last quarter, with a billion dollars of that raised by just one company: Ineffable Intelligence.

Other large seed rounds were raised by , a London-based AI lab for science; Italy-based autonomous driving technology producer ; and Stockholm-based defense tech company .

M&A increase

While IPO activity for European startups was muted, M&A showed strong momentum following increased activity in Q1. A total of 154 Europe-based, venture-backed companies were acquired for a cumulative $11.5 billion or more in Q2, SA国际传媒 data shows. That includes three companies acquired for more than $1 billion each in biotech, industrial AI and micromobility.

Looking ahead

European startup investment has now steadily increased since the fourth quarter of 2024, with increased momentum in the just-ended quarter, driven by larger rounds of $100 million and over. The region鈥檚 startup ecosystem shows particular strength in deep tech and financial services as well as the formation of new AI labs, and M&A activity has fueled liquidity for the next batch of startups.

Now the question remains: Will it be enough to keep Europe competitive with the frontrunners, the U.S. and China?

Related SA国际传媒 queries:

Related reading:

• SA国际传媒 Data: Global Startup Investment Hit Record $510B In H1 2026 As AI Boom Accelerates Funding And Exits
• North American Startup Funding Shattered Records In First Half Of 2026, Driven By AI

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from SA国际传媒, and is based on reported data. Data is as of July 6, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. SA国际传媒 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to SA国际传媒 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. SA国际传媒 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. SA国际传媒 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

This week was not an exceptionally busy one for large funding deals, though we saw sizable rounds in a lively mix of sectors ranging from AI to fintech to quantum computing and cybersecurity. The biggest raise was for AI world-model developer, which secured a $310 million Series B. Venture investors also put money into AI infrastructure and AI models for biotech.

1. , $310M, artificial intelligence: Menlo Park, California-based Odyssey raised $310 million at a $1.45 billion valuation in a Series B round led by . Other investors included ,,,, and . Odyssey develops AI world models that create multimodal simulations of real-world environments. The startup has now raised $337 million in funding to date, .

2. , $140M, fintech: New York-based Chronograph secured a $140 million private equity round led by . The company provides portfolio monitoring, reporting and diligence software for private capital investors, an increasingly important market as private assets continue to grow. The new raise, which it describes as growth capital, brings its total funding to date to $160 million, according to .

3. (tied) , $100M, AI infrastructure: Boulder, Colorado-based Hydra Host raised a massive $100 million Series A led by . A of other investors joined, including ,, , and . The company operates a bare-metal GPU platform that connects customers to distributed AI computing infrastructure. With the latest investment, it has raised just under $119 million to date.

3. (tied) , $100M, cybersecurity: Startups that promise to protect companies in the AI era are also raising massive sums right out of the gate. This week, Santa Clara, California-based Ent.AI emerged from stealth and said it has raised $100 million in seed funding led by. Other investors included,, 1,, and. The company, founded by former executives and members of the Security Copilot team, offers an AI-powered workspace security platform that it says can analyze user and AI-agent behavior in real time to proactively prevent cyber threats.

3. (tied) , $100M, cybersecurity, defense: Arlington, Virginia-based Twenty Technologies secured a $100 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation. The round was led by, with participation from, and. The company develops AI-enabled cyber warfare systems for the U.S. military and intelligence community, helping automate and accelerate offensive cyber operations at scale. Founded by former cyber operators and defense technologists, Twenty Technologies has now raised $138 million to date,. It鈥檚 part of a growing wave of venture-backed startups building software for military and national security purposes.

3. (tied) , $100M, quantum computing: Berkeley, California-based Atom Computing raised a $100 million Series C led by that brings its total private investment to date to just over $191 million, . and also backed its latest round. Along with the venture money, Atom also received a $100 million Letter of Intent from the under the CHIPS and Science Act that gives the startup additional public backing in exchange for a minority government stake. The company develops neutral-atom quantum computers, one of several competing architectures seeking to commercialize quantum computing. It is one of several quantum startups to receive sizable funding deals this year, following a record-breaking venture investment year for the sector in 2025.

7. , $65M, biotechnology: Watertown, Massachusetts-based Triveni Bio raised a $65 million Series C co-led by and. Additional participation came from. The company develops antibody-based therapeutics for immunological and inflammatory diseases. It has now raised $272 million total from investors, .

8. (tied) , $52M, semiconductor infrastructure: Menlo Park, California-based AttoTude secured a $52 million Series C led by. Other investors included ,,,, 2, and. The startup develops high-speed interconnect technology for AI and hyperscale data centers and has raised $142 million to date, according to . It comes amid robust funding for semiconductor startups this year.

8. (tied) , $52M, digital media: Beverly Hills, California-based Richard Roths Media raised a $52 million venture round led by . The company says it delivered AI-driven marketing and advertising services for 鈥渉igh trust鈥� industries such as banking, law and healthcare. The investment appears to be its first outside capital, per SA国际传媒.

10. (tied) , $50M, artificial intelligence: San Francisco-based Bland AI raised a $50 million Series C led by . The of other investors includes , , founder , and others. The company develops AI-powered voice agents that automate inbound and outbound phone conversations for enterprises, a category that has seen growing adoption as businesses look to replace traditional call-center workflows. It has raised $106 million to date, according to .

10. (tied) , $50M, fintech: Brooklyn-based Interchecks secured a $50 million Series C led by,, and. The company operates a payments platform that allows businesses to manage deposits and payouts through a single API, reflecting continued investor interest in infrastructure that simplifies financial operations. It has now raised just under $79 million to date.

10. (tied) , $50M, artificial intelligence, biotechnology: Menlo Park, California-based Radical Numerics emerged from stealth and said it has raised a $50 million seed round led by, with participation from , and . The startup is developing AI models designed to simulate and predict biological systems, with the goal of accelerating drug discovery and advancing precision medicine.

Large non-US deals:

• The largest startup deal outside of the U.S. this week was very large indeed, and also very unusual. , the Chinese AI chatbot startup that briefly roiled public AI-related stocks in early 2025, reportedly took its first outside financing, worth roughly $7.4 billion. The Series A deal, however, comes with a lot of atypical caveats, notably that investors in the deal didn鈥檛 actually receive a stake in DeepSeek, but rather in an LLC controlled by founder , per . Those investors also reportedly face a five-year lockup and receive no voting rights.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the SA国际传媒 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of June 13-18. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

and each launched multibillion-dollar deployment ventures staffed with forward-deployed engineers, while a long list of startups building AI infrastructure, autonomous software and robotics also reached unicorn status. Together, the new entrants point to where investors increasingly see value creation: turning AI advances into real-world applications and pairing software intelligence with physical automation.

Beyond AI, new unicorns were minted across many sectors including healthcare, quantum, aerospace, financial services, manufacturing, e-commerce and energy.听

China dominated in the robotics sector, while Canada did so in quantum. The single new legaltech unicorn last month was from Brazil. also joined the board this past month, as the adult creator content company raised its first external financing.听

Of the new unicorns, 17 are U.S-based, while four each are based in China and the UK. Two new unicorns joined the board from Canada, as one each from India and Brazil.听

Unicorn IPOs

The board鈥檚 total value is undergoing rapid fluctuations amid lofty new valuations for some of the largest new unicorns, as well as high-profile exits to the public markets.

The Unicorn Board reached $9.9 trillion in value in May, as Anthropic moved ahead of OpenAI to become the second most valued private company after . On the heels of the funding, Anthropic privately filed for an IPO, followed shortly thereafter by OpenAI’s .听

SpaceX is expected to list this Friday, in what would be the largest-ever IPO. Its listing will erase more than one-tenth of value from the board as the the -led company exits the private markets.听

Chip company went public in May in a blockbuster IPO that valued the company at $56.4 billion,听well above its last private valuation of $23 billion just three months earlier in February.听

New unicorns in May

Here are May鈥檚 new unicorn companies, including 10 companies that are less than 3-years old:听

AI deployment

• San Francisco-based raised a $4 billion private equity round led by with co-leads , and . The new company is majority owned by with partnerships with 19 investment firms and consultancies. OpenAI acquired , with its 150 forward-deployed engineers to support enterprises in this effort. The less than 1-year-old-based company was valued at $14 billion in the new funding, which it said will be used to scale operations and acquire companies.听
• raised a $1.5 billion private equity funding to build an AI services company to work with companies to bring Claude into their operations. Each of the co-leads 鈥� , private equity investor and legal firm 鈥斕齣nvested $300 million into the round. and also invested in the joint venture. The less than 1-year-old-based, San Francisco-based company鈥檚 valuation was not disclosed.
• , a company building search for AI agents, raised a $250 million Series C led by . The 5-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $2.2 billion and is used by coding agents, go-to-market agents and chat agents.听
• Boston-based autonomous AI software developer raised a $200 million Series A led by . Blitzy鈥檚 platform reverse engineers existing code bases to build a knowledge graph and thereby enable autonomous development of software projects over days or weeks that can re-engineer and test complicated systems and deal with technical debt. The 2-year-old company was valued at $1.4 billion and is said to be used by dozens of global 2,000 companies.听
• , a routing technology for applications to select from 400-plus models, raised a $113 million Series B led by Alphabet鈥檚 . Investors in the round included a host of corporate venture firms including , , , and . The 3-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.

Robotics听

• raised a $700 million Series A led by . The company plans to build personalized robotics developing its own models, training and hardware. The 1-year-old San Jose, California-based company was valued at $6 billion. It was founded by CEO , founder of humanoid robotics unicorn .
• Guangdong, China-based , a dual arm robotics developer, raised a $147 million Series B led by and . It said its new funding will be used for R&D, production and a global sales network. The 10-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.听

• Shanghai-based has raised four funding rounds since it was spun out of in January, and reached a valuation of $1 billion. Agilink is focused on dexterous hand technology. The funding will be used for model development, data and hardware with the spinout able to license to the broader robotics market.听
• , a robot leasing and rental platform, raised a Series A funding. The less than 1-year-old Pudong, China-based company was valued at $1 billion. It is looking to expand from event rentals to warehousing, logistics and park operations.听

Healthcare听

• , a treatment provider for cardiovascular and orthopedic disease, raised a $1.5 billion corporate round led by . Boston Scientific has an option to acquire its heart valve technology. The 10-year-old Georgia, U.S.-based company was valued at $4.4 billion.听
• , a longevity biotech company, seeking to extend human life by a decade, with therapeutics targeting age related disease raised the initial close of funding round led by . The 5-year-old Redwood City, California-based company was valued at a pre-money valuation of $1.8 billion.听
• , launched a suite of AI agents for healthcare built from its clinical data, raised $146 million in equity and secondary funding led by . The 15-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.

Quantum computing

• Vancouver-based , a quantum computing company that combines silicon-based qubits with native photonic interconnects, raised a $70 million extension funding led by Luxembourg-based . Photonic raised $130 million in January. The 9-year-old company was valued at $2 billion.
• Quebec-based , which says it addresses quantum error correction in each qubit, raised a $30 million funding. The company has raised a mix of government grants and venture capital. The 6-year-old company was valued at $1.4 billion.

Aerospace听

• , a builder of rockets to deploy data centers in space, raised a $305 million Series B led by . The 2-year-old San Carlos, California-based company, formerly called Aetherflux, was valued at $2 billion. The company plans to launch its first satellite later this year. Its technology entails using the upper stage of the rocket as a low-earth orbit satellite that uses solar energy to create 1-megawatt data centers in space.听
• Hyderabad, India-based , a rocket company that delivers satellites into space, raised a $60 million funding led by Singapore-based and Menlo Park, California-based . Skyroot is planning the maiden voyage of Vikram-1 in June. The 7-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Financial services听

• , an AI insurance provider for startups, raised a $160 million Series B led by . The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion and plans to go after the trucking industry next.听
• Intelligent wealth management platform raised a $150 million Series D led by . With in recruited assets, it is built to create an all in one system for advisors. The 7-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Manufacturing听

• , a manufacturer of aerospace and defense components, raised a $300 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old El Segundo, California-based company, which aims to strengthen America鈥檚 industrial base, operates six factories across the U.S. and was valued at $1 billion.
• , likewise says it is building out American manufacturing with a rapid custom manufacturing software to production platform. It raised its first institutional funding of $110 million led by , and founders and . The 7-year-old Reno, Nevada-based company supports small-scale inventors to large-scale enterprises and has shipped 30 million parts to 300,000 customers. The company was valued at $1 billion.

E-commerce

• , a real-time inventory management platform, raised a $170 million Series B led by and . Its sensor technology tracks items and its precise location and movement in the store. Retail customers include and . The 13-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion.

• London-based , a booking service for hair salons, beauty experts and wellness salons raised a $80 million Series C led by . The 11-year-old London-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Energy听

• , a nuclear fusion startup spun out of Tsinghua University, raised a $74 million Series A funding. The 4-year-old China-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• , a provider of fast charging batteries, raised a $60 million Series C led by strategic investor . The batteries are used in data centers, robotics, electric vehicles and grid infrastructure. The 7-year-old Cambridge, UK-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Social media听

• Creator platform raised its first external funding, a $535 million private equity round led by , which now owns around 16% of the company. The 10-year-old London-based adult content platform was valued at $3.2 billion. Its CEO noted the company has paid out since 2016.

Data center听

• Modular data center builder raised a $230 million Series B led by , and. In partnership with the company plans to build capacity for secure data centers useful for military and remote manufacturing environments. The 3-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $2.2 billion. Customer booking for fiscal year 2026 was up 540% from 2025.听

Legaltech听

• S茫o Paulo-based , a Brazilian AI legal platform to manage company litigation, raised a $100 million Series B led by that valued the 2-year-old company at $1.2 billion. Enter counts , and among its customers, who use its technology along with law firms to handle litigation paperwork and settlements. Around have been managed through the platform. led the Series A.

Cryptocurrency听

• , a digital asset trader, raised a $150 million funding led by , UK bank Standard Charter鈥檚 fintech arm. The deal brings digital assets into banking and represents GSRs first strategic external investor. The 12-year-old London-based company was valued at $1 billion.听

Security听

• , a security platform built for an open-source automated coding environment, raised a $60 million Series C led by . The platform is adopted by companies including Anthropic, , , , and and supports 27,000 organizations. Its socket firewall product is free to block malicious packages. The 6-year-old Stanford, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related SA国际传媒 unicorn lists:听

• (1,785)
• (619)
• (160)
• (189)
• (118)
• (102)
• (921)
• (525)
• (241)
• (39)
• (486)

Related reading:

• Anthropic Files Confidentially For IPO听
• Active Startup Investors Didn鈥檛 Hold Back In May
• Anthropic Funding Pushed Startup Investment To Near-Record Levels In May As Exit Market Reopened听听

Methodology

The SA国际传媒 Unicorn Board is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on SA国际传媒 data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.听

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations 鈥� such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options 鈥� as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.听

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .听

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.听

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. SA国际传媒 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to SA国际传媒 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

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