AI Startup Funding Tracker

Massive funding signals global AI chip race.

• SiFive raises $400M at $3.65B valuation for RISC-V AI data center CPUs, backed by Nvidia and others.
  -...

Strategic M&A move: Nebius in advanced talks to buy Israeli AI startup AI21 Labs after its failed Nvidia merger.

• Full-stack ambitions: Deal extends...

Enterprise AI funding alert: PeakMetrics closed $6M Series A led by Moneta Ventures (with Techstars, others), totaling $16.3M raised.

• 3x YoY...

SiFive's $400M AI Chip Raise

• 🔥 Oversubscribed Round at $3.65B Valuation: SiFive raised $400 million in an oversubscribed funding round valuing...

Nvidia's stake propels SiFive to $3.65B valuation in $400M oversubscribed round led by Atreides Management.

• Key backers: Nvidia, Apollo, Point72...

Venture-backed AI founders face a barbell market: giants like Anthropic and OpenAI snag ~$80B, while early-stage teams scramble.

• Funding surged...

Major AI Funding Rounds

• 🔥 ShengShu Series B: China AI startup ShengShu Technology raised more than $290 million (2 billion yuan, equivalent to...

Investor enthusiasm for AI startups rolls on globally:

• Glean raises $150M Series F at $7.2B valuation for enterprise AI
• China's ShengShu secures...

Venture panic rising as 95% of GenAI projects yield zero ROI despite $500B+ annual infra spends vs just $12B consumer revenue—a 42:1 ratio worse than...

Seed Funding

• 🔥 Juno: AI tax prep automation startup Juno, founded by a CPA for SMB accounting firms, raised $12 million in seed funding.
• Sky9...

• OpenAI mega-deals fuel boom: Amazon eyes $10B investment; Disney $1B for Sora with IP licensing; Nvidia up to $100B stake + chips.
• CoreWeave...

Academic triumph: Exostellar, Cornell spinout from 2018, acquired by Fortune 500 Qualcomm in March – a rare 1% success exit.

• AI evolution: Pivoted...

Key criteria for AI founders picking pre-seed backers:

• Thesis depth: Specific views on AI stack, defensibility—not just hype
• Stage fit: Recent...

• Juno, CPA-founded AI startup, raises $12M seed to make tax returns less painful for SMB accounting firms
• Targets underserved SMBs with AI-powered...

Latin American startups raised $1.03 billion in seed- and growth-stage deals through March 31, up year-over-year but down from Q4 2025—driven by global investors in a late-stage boom spanning AI and fintech.

Major AI Infrastructure and Robotics Raises

• 🔥 Firmus $505M Raise at $5.5B Valuation: Nvidia-backed Firmus raised $505M in its final pre-IPO...

YC Demo Day buzz: 8-week-old startups seek $5M at $40M valuations, one at $200M, fueled by tweets of $100M ARR in 12 months.

But caveat from a16z:...

Nvidia-backed Firmus raises $505M at a $5.5B valuation – one of the top private AI infra plays globally.

Key buildout highlights:

• Project...

Pichai's investment playbook: Google's $900M SpaceX stake from 2015 now worth ~$100B, mirroring AI return potential.

• Anthropic deep dive: Over $3B...

Momentum builds in China's humanoid robotics with Spirit AI's $145M (1B yuan) round co-led by Shunwei and Yunfeng Capital, pushing valuation past 10B...