PitchBook Q1 $9.4T US VC/$5.8T AI, Series A $62M median; KPMG records +200% US/seed drought; Lockheed $1B; Meta Assured acq; BMW $300M; Frame $50M Index; Heaviside $28M; Genesis $105M Khosla; Rilian/XBOW/Scout; Northleaf-Inovia CA; Kalos $78.8M debut NYC; Robinhood RVII filing; Casimir $12M quantum; Breaker $6M defense; STL acq Vertiv; new Sprouts.ai $9M Pre-A Palo Alto AI GTM; Hacktron $2.9M pre-seed devsec; GridCARE $64M A power infra; OpenAI acq Weights.gg voice; Meridian $35M MBA fund; Nectar Social $30M Series A AI marketing; Sygaldry $139M quantum Series A; Roche $1.05B PathAI acq; Playground Global $475M Fund IV; Dolfin $2.5M seed; Iridius $8.6M seed AI compliance; Calibre $3.3M pre-seed; Hellbender $12.5M physical AI seed; Stilta $10.5M a16z AI patent seed; Kin Health $9M seed (Maveron, patient-focused AI notetaker); Viewz $7M fintech seed; StitcherAI $3M pre-seed; 2048 Ventures pre-seed activity; Detroit $6.4M micro-funds; Neurosoft $7.5M BCI seed; Rely $4.5M AI proptech; Benji $6.25M loyalty seed; Arito $6M AI fintech; Voker $2.2M pre-seed fund; Tamber $5M creative AI; N49P $70M Canada seed fund. New: Carta Q1 pre-seed data (AI 50% of dollars, Miami top 3); BDC Canada VC report; Airis Labs $60M ($31M Series B) defense AI; Clouted $7M seed AI social video marketing; RevEng.AI $15M Series A AI code verification; Cypher AI $2M seed biotech infra; Protuoso $9.5M seed biologics; Tensormesh $20M seed extension (AMD/NVIDIA/CoreWeave) inference caching; Lightning Capital $100M Miami fund; Modiqo $3M pre-seed deterministic AI workflows (Heavybit/Seligman); Drafted $16M seed AI home design (Buckley/YC/Silbermann/Tedder); Cintrifuse $300K residency Ohio; Autodesk/Snowflake/Asana AI acquisitions; Crypto VC funding fell 50% QoQ to $4B, early-stage steady, US 70%; Human Archive $8.2M seed for embodied AI training data; Opto Investments AI fund (multi-strategy for RIAs); OpenAI acquires Hiro Finance (personal finance AI); Pablo Srugo (Mistral VC) insights on AI startup acceleration; Black founders raised $643M in Q3 2026, highest since 2022, driven by late-stage deals. New today: Crimson $2.5M seed AI legal tech (YC); LightTable $22M Series A AI pre-construction (Innovation Endeavors); RevReply $1M seed AI sales automation (Berkeley SkyDeck); WSJ confirms VC pivot to hardware bets (physical AI/robotics $26B in 2025, $23B in 2026). Also: Anthropic $65B Series H at $965B valuation overtakes OpenAI — reshapes AI landscape, validates enterprise demand. Transition Ventures $150M climate AI fund (London, US portfolio) — signals AI-energy convergence. New: Credo acquires DustPhotonics $750M for AI optical connectivity — hyperscaler demand for silicon photonics. FVF Early Stage Venture Conference in South Florida highlighted 8 startups (BalancedTrust, NanoSieve, PlainHand) — regional ecosystem signal. New macro data: AI now 81% of VC dollars in Q1 2026, 42% seed valuation premium for AI, 1,500+ pre-ChatGPT unicorns at risk of down rounds. Boston startup fundraising strong only by pre-AI parameters. New today: Gigascale Capital $250M early-stage climate tech fund (ex-Meta CTO Schroepfer) — adds to climate/energy VC trend. Anthropic confidentially files for IPO — major liquidity signal for AI investors. Catena Labs $30M Series A at $250M post led by Sequoia and Paradigm — data infrastructure, ex-Confluent/Datadog founders. New: Trajectory $15M seed for AI feedback loop platform (ex-Google/Apple team) — adds to AI infra optimization. New: SpeedLabs $6.5M seed for AI sports prediction markets — niche but novel early-stage VC. New: Ottawa to launch new startup investment fund as part of AI strategy — government-backed fund could shift Canadian early-stage landscape. New: Mecka AI $60M round led by Framework Ventures for robot AI data platform (human motion data, $100M ARR claim) — adds to physical AI data pipeline trend. New: Endra Series A led by a16z for AI MEP design (Revit integration, $150M market) — adds to AI in construction/real estate trend. New: Inference layer raised $763M (Groq $650M, OpenRouter $113M) same week as Anthropic $65B — structural shift toward inference infrastructure; Groq rebuild after Nvidia's $20B not-acqui-hire, OpenRouter corporate investors (Alphabet, NVIDIA, Snowflake). New: Gradient Labs $13M Series A extension for fintech AI agents (Axios) — adds to vertical AI agent trend. New: Westmag seed led by a16z for domestic motor manufacturing (physical AI/defense supply chain) — adds to reshoring trend. New: Reactor $59M stealth exit for real-time generative video infrastructure (Lightspeed, AWS) — adds to AI infrastructure layer. New: Waypoint Bio $20M Series A AI cell therapies (Amplify, GC, Lux, Mitsui) — adds to AI biotech. New: Pricepoint $6.6M seed AI hotel revenue management (Brightspark, Boreal, AQC) — adds to vertical AI/Canada. New: Adaptive Innovations $50M Series A AI home health (Felicis, Bain, Optum) — adds to AI healthcare. New: Phosio $4M seed for AR/AI glasses (thin-film materials, ex-Meta team) — adds to hardware/AI convergence. New: StratusGrid $3M seed for AI cloud infrastructure optimization (Dogwood) — adds to AI infra efficiency trend. New: Angel investing data: healthcare 43% of angel deals, AI embedded in 72% of deal descriptions, syndication trend — confirms barbell effect and capital concentration at pre-seed. New: Canadian government AI strategy includes startup fund and equity stakes — detailed in Carney government announcement. New: Arpio $15M Series A AI-native recovery (S3 Ventures, Paladin); Shifters $10.2M seed AI robotics for hazardous environments (Ace Capital); Terra AI $20M Series A AI mining/geothermal (Khosla, BHP); Enzo Health $20M Series A AI home health (Utah). New: Lassie $35M Series A a16z for AI dental admin ($10M ARR, 700+ practices) — adds to vertical AI agent trend. New: Kodesage seed (undisclosed) AI on-premises modernization — adds to AI enterprise trend. New: Benchmark raises $2B ($750M flagship + $1.25B growth fund), breaking its $425M cap — signals deal size inflation and competitive pressure on early-stage VCs. Benchmark's growth fund driven by Cerebras exit; GP restructuring (Randle from KP, Jack Altman); missed foundation model AI labs but placed AI bets (Sierra, Legora, Mercor, Fireworks, Cursor, Manus). New: Century Health $5M seed AI clinical data abstraction (97% accuracy) — adds to health AI seeds. New: Nvidia acquires Kumo AI for $400M+ (KumoRFM-2 model, customers DoorDash/Snowflake) — AI model maker M&A, hyperscaler talent/tech acquisition signal (confirmed). New: Airspeed $20M Series A ex-DeepMind AI sales agent (DN Capital, 4x revenue, 200 customers) — adds to AI revenue automation trend. New: Red Metals $10M seed for copper refining (Tesla co-founder, Gigascale Capital) — reshoring/critical materials trend. New: Harper's $47M combined Seed/Series A AI insurtech (Emergence, YC, Peak XV, Black founder milestone) — adds to AI vertical insurance and underrepresented founder signals. New: US VC panel on Canadian founders highlights 'Fortress Canada' as revenue strategy and need to benchmark in SF — reinforces cross-border dynamics. New: Ghost Angels fund from Snap alumni targeting pre-seed/seed AI social startups — adds to operator-led fund trend. New: R1 Capital launched as dedicated venture firm focusing on enterprise AI, deep tech, life sciences in the Midwest (from Rev1 Ventures) — adds to regional VC ecosystem growth. New: Collate $95M Series A AI platform for regulated life sciences (Redpoint, First Round, CRV, Conviction, YC) — adds to life sciences AI trend. New: Fintech funding selectivity in 2026 — AI-native credit and blockchain infra active, compliance moats key. New: Huron acquires RelateCare for AI patient access — corporate M&A in healthcare AI. New: InfoHawk $2.25M pre-seed (ex-Meta/Google, scam detection) — small but notable team. New: Picogrid $45M Series A defense tech integration (Bessemer, 100+ customers including Northrop Grumman). New: Lexful $7M seed AI documentation for MSPs (Top Down, York IE). New: Reset $6M seed embedded EWA for credit unions (customer-backed). New: Arta Ventures emerging manager fund (operator backgrounds, applied AI). New: EDGE Markets $29.2M Series A for event futures/crypto derivatives. New: Upriver $14M seed for enterprise data infrastructure for AI (automating data pipelines). New: Mercor CEO calls out Sequoia over dual-pricing valuation tricks, highlighting structural tension in AI deal terms. New: Oregon physical AI ecosystem emerging (Agility $400M, Panthalassa $140M, OSU talent pipeline). New: BeatpulseLabs $1.8M pre-seed AI data infrastructure. New: OpenAI and Anthropic both file for IPOs in the same week — major liquidity signal, shifts AI landscape from private to public markets, challenges safety narratives, provides valuation benchmarks for early-stage AI startups. New: Infinity Constellation $24M Series A studio model. New: Orbital $5M pre-seed a16z speedrun for AI data centers in space. New: Sandstone $30M Series A AI legal workflow (Lightspeed, Sequoia). New: spARK Labs (Ark Invest) early-stage fund and angel network in Tampa Bay. New: Billables AI $10M Series A legal timekeeping AI. New: Orbital Industries $50M Series B AI materials discovery (Plural). New: Novara acquires Ensogo for AI operational risk (undisclosed). New: Poetic emerges from stealth with $50M funding backed by OpenAI (agentic enterprise automation). New: SyntheticFi $13M seed/Series A for RIA liability management (YC-backed). New: Semiconductor funding snapshot: MatX $500M, Ayar Labs $500M, Etched.ai $500M (later-stage). New: OpenAI IPO pipeline fuels $3.6T market surge — major liquidity signal. New: FinSMEs May 2026 report: 454 deals, US 60%, AI/Enterprise 45%+ of volume. New: Q1 2026 report: AI 57% of capital, faster graduation to Series A/B. New: Capsa AI $18M Series A for private capital AI (100% renewal, 122% NDR, 14x ARR). New: Jedify $24M for AI agent context (Norwest, Snowflake). New: Niteshift $7M seed AI coding (Greylock, Datadog founders). New: Animal Capital $33M Fund III for consumer tech. New: Skillmaker $4.5M seed AI workforce training (NAPA partnership). New: Clio acquires Jurisage (Canadian legal data, 470k+ cases) — legal AI M&A. New: Aryon Security $29M Series A for enterprise security. New: Voltus acquires Brightfield AI for energy storage AI.
