Markets
Q1 2026 Venture Funding Shatters Records at $300B — AI Takes 80% ($242B), Horizontal SaaS Investment Down 35%
Crunchbase data shows Q1 2026 set an all-time record with $300B invested in 6,000 startups globally, up 150%+ YoY. AI captured 80% ($242B) of total funding — up from 55% in Q1 2025. Four of the five largest venture rounds ever were closed in Q1 (OpenAI $122B, Anthropic $30B, xAI $20B, Waymo $16B). The bifurcation is stark: horizontal SaaS investment fell 35% over 12 months while vertical SaaS remained flat (+3%). Capital is flowing to AI infrastructure and vertical specialists, away from traditional horizontal software.
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