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.

Startup investors aren鈥檛 exactly hitting pause, but they did scale back on giant rounds this past week, with just two startup financings in the multiple hundreds of millions. The biggest round went to AI infrastructure provider , which picked up $750 million, followed by construction automation unicorn , which secured $200 million. Other sectors that attracted larger rounds this past week included biotech, insurance and AI.

1. , $750M, AI infrastructure: Modal Labs, a provider of cloud infrastructure for AI inference and other applications, secured $750 million in a Series D funding round led by at a $15.75 billion valuation. The New York-headquartered company said it recently exceeded an annual revenue run rate of $1 billion.

2. , $200M, construction tech: Austin-based Icon, a developer of robotic construction systems known for its 3D-printed homes, closed on $200 million in Series D funding led by聽 and . The company says it is on pace for 4x revenue growth in 2026.

3. , $135M, RNA therapies: Boston-based Souffl茅 Therapeutics, a developer of RNA therapies, raised $135 million in Series B funding led by as part of a large syndicate of investors.

4. , $103M, gene therapies: Menlo Park, California-based Estuary Biotherapeutics, a developer of genetic medicines for patients with serious kidney diseases, launched with $103 million in financing. The funding includes $93 million in a Series A round led by as well as $10 million in previously undisclosed seed capital.

5. , $100M, AI tools: Labelbox, a developer of technology to train and evaluate AI models and to help deploy agents that improve with experience, picked up $100 million in Series E funding. led the financing for the 8-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

6. , $90M, health AI: Redwood City, California-based Suki, a provider of AI tools that turn clinical conversations into intelligence for documentation, coding and other healthcare workflows, announced a $90 million Series E financing from backers including and .

7. , $82M, caregiver platform: Abby Care, a platform for family members to become certified, paid caregivers and deliver care at home, closed on $82 million in Series C funding, per a . led the financing for the 5-year-old, San Francisco-based startup.

8. , $70M, insurance: Stand, a provider of insurance for homes in areas at higher risk of natural disasters, secured $70 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation. led the financing for the 3-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

9. , $65M, semiconductor systems: Mueon Corp., a semiconductor systems company building a modular platform for AI and hyperscale computing, completed a $65 million Series A funding round. led the financing for the Portland, Oregon-based company.

10. , $60M, AI spend management: New York-based North.cloud, provider of an infrastructure spend intelligence and automation platform, raised $60 million in a Series B round led by .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Oct. 10-16, 2026. Although most announced rounds are in the database, there may be a small time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

Overall, investors put $38.5 billion into reported seed- through growth-stage financings for countries in the region in Q3, per 萝莉视频 data. Of that, a majority went to AI-focused companies, echoing the trends we鈥檝e seen globally.

Deal counts, meanwhile, were relatively flat. That indicates concentration of capital into favored startups remains pronounced but is not intensifying.

Table of contents

• An AI-driven quarter
• China leads by far in country-by-country breakdown
• Late stage
• Early stage
• Seed
• A big quarter for China
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

An AI-driven quarter

Around 55% of investment 鈥� an estimated $21 billion 鈥� went to AI-focused companies. Total funding is down substantially from the prior quarter, which was boosted by a $7.4 billion financing for China鈥檚 , but still the second-highest tally on record.

For Q3, a couple of extra-large rounds bolstered the AI investment tally. The largest went to Beijing-based foundational model company , which secured $3.5 billion in July at a reported $35 billion valuation.

, the AI spinout of China-based short video platform , was the second-biggest fundraiser. The generative video startup raised around $3 billion in a July financing that included and .

China leads by far in country-by-country breakdown

China was the leading Asian destination for venture investment by a very wide margin.

Per 萝莉视频 data, roughly $27 billion 鈥� or 70% of all Asian startup funding in Q3 鈥� went to China-based companies. India was a distant second, with $2.9 billion, followed by Singapore, with $2.5 billion.

For perspective, below we charted third-quarter startup funding tallies for the six countries with the largest totals.

Late stage

Most capital went to late- and growth-stage funding rounds.

Per 萝莉视频 data, investment at this stage totaled around $20 billion in Q3. That鈥檚 down a bit from the prior quarter but nearly double year-ago levels and the second-strongest showing in four years.

Multiple jumbo rounds kept the total high. The largest was Moonshot AI鈥檚 aforementioned $3.5 billion Series F.

Several others raised financings in the multiple hundreds of millions. Shenzhen-based , a provider of robotics hardware and software, for instance, picked up $400 million in a September Series C. And Hong Kong-based , an e-commerce fintech platform, secured $300 million in Series C funding as it eyes an IPO.

Early stage

Early-stage investment drifted lower in Q3 but remained at historically high levels.

Per 萝莉视频 data, financing for startups at the Series A and Series B stages totaled $13.6 billion for the just-ended quarter. That鈥檚 a decline of 28% from the prior quarter but up 65% from year-ago levels.

Seed

Reported seed funding hit its highest level in years, boosted by investor enthusiasm around AI.

In total, investors poured $4.9 billion into reported seed and angel deals across Asia, per 萝莉视频 data. That鈥檚 up around 22% from the prior quarter and more than double year-ago levels.

A big quarter for China

Overall, Q3 was a robust period for venture funding to China-based companies, with far smaller sums going to other Asian startup hubs. Funding to startups based in India and Singapore was down significantly quarter over quarter, while Israel鈥檚 investment totals declined slightly.

We鈥檒l keep an eye out in the coming months to see if this divergence of fortunes persists.

Related 萝莉视频 query:

Related reading:

• 萝莉视频 Data: Q3 2026 Posted A Record Count Of Billion-Dollar Rounds As The Global AI Race Heats Up

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 萝莉视频, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Oct. 5, 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. 萝莉视频 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 萝莉视频 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. 萝莉视频 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. 萝莉视频 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:

For the third quarter of 2026, global cybersecurity- and privacy-focused startups pulled in a total of $6.8 billion, per 萝莉视频 data. That鈥檚 up about 50% from the prior quarter and tied for the highest quarterly tally in years, as charted below.

The funding bump was due to larger rounds, not more of them. Round counts actually declined sequentially across all stages last quarter, 萝莉视频 data shows.

Biggest cybersecurity fundraisers

AI startups accounted for the overwhelming majority of cybersecurity funding, with a particular focus on identity security. Overall, at least at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity closed rounds of $100 million or more this past quarter.

Of those, the largest funding recipient by far was enterprise identity security provider聽 , which picked up $1 billion in a July growth round led by . Founded in 2001, the Ohio company isn鈥檛 exactly a startup, but it has attracted the bulk of its venture funding in the past 10 years and its pivot to AI is also of a more recent vintage.

Dallas-based tied for second place with a $400 million September Series F led by . The startup, which offers tools for enterprises to see and govern how people and AI agents interact with applications and data, also secured a post-money valuation of $6.4 billion.

, operator of an enterprise data security platform focused on AI agents, also announced a fresh $400 million -led investment in September, just three months after raising $600 million. The latest infusion set a $12 billion valuation for the New York startup.

For a bigger-picture view of leading fundraisers, below we used 萝莉视频 data to put together a list of the 10 largest round recipients.

Exits, too

We also saw some good-sized acquisitions of cybersecurity startups this past quarter, even as the IPO market was fairly sluggish.

led the M&A pack with its $2.4 billion purchase of anti-fraud technology provider in August. The acquisition is part of a broader effort by Visa to beef up its fraud detection and prevention capabilities for the AI age.

Among private unicorns, meanwhile, Cyera proved it can find a way to spend a good chunk of the capital it raised. It acquired , an enterprise access management platform built for AI agents, in a deal reportedly valued around $1 billion.

As for public offerings, , which offers digital security services to consumers, was the lone sizable venture-backed market debut. The Boston-based startup completed an acquisition of an Australian public company, , in July, and then renamed the combined company Aura.

Overall, an upbeat quarter

Overall, 萝莉视频 funding data points to an upbeat environment for cybersecurity startup funding. This doesn鈥檛 seem particularly surprising given the steady drumbeat of worrisome news about the risks posed by rapidly advancing AI technology.

It鈥檚 not an especially reassuring time for most of us. But for cybersecurity founders, there鈥檚 certainly an ever-expanding array of hazards to keep at bay. We鈥檒l keep watching in the current quarter to see if investment momentum continues to build.

Related 萝莉视频 queries:

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.

As the AI startup boom progresses, investors appear to be leaving few niches unfunded. That was apparent in this week鈥檚 lineup of large funding rounds, which featured AI infrastructure providers, a foundational model developer, a content protection platform for the AI age, and other AI-focused startups among the top investment recipients.

The biggest investment, $2 billion, went to , a spinout focused on cloud and power infrastructure that is hoping to benefit from the AI buildout. Other large rounds went to , developer of a fast-growing new model, and , a quantum computing startup.

1. , $2B, cloud and power infrastructure: Axiom Solutions International, a private cloud and power infrastructure company spun out of manufacturing services provider , secured $2 billion in new financing. and provided the strategic investment by purchasing shares of Austin-based Axiom from Flex at an initial enterprise value of $37.5 billion. Flex says it plans to separate Axiom into an independent publicly traded company early next year.

2. , $870M, foundational AI: TypeSafe AI, developer of Jev, a recently launched AI model with a large and growing early following, raised $870 million in new funding with as the largest investor, according to a . also participated in the round, which reportedly set a $7.5 billion valuation for San Francisco-based TypeSafe.

3. , $475M, quantum computing: Pasadena, California-based Oratomic, a startup working on fault-tolerant quantum computers, raised $475 million in fresh funding led by , , , , and . The company previously raised $300 million in a July financing.

4. , $400M, data and content protection: SignSplit, a provider of tools for protecting, licensing and contributing real-world human data and other forms of human contribution, emerged from stealth with $400 million in seed funding. backed the round, setting a $1 billion valuation for the New York-based company, which was founded in 2024.

5. (tied) , $250M, AI for engineering: Vinci, developer of an AI computational platform for hardware engineers to design products, closed on $250 million in Series B funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. , and led the round for the Palo Alto, California-based company.

5. (tied) , $250M, micro-manufacturing: Emeryville, California-based Atomic Machines, a startup working on AI-native digital manufacturing systems to build micro-machines directly from code, emerged from stealth and said it has raised $250 million to date from a long list of investors.

7. , $225M, energy distribution: Voltus, provider of a distributed energy platform aimed at bolstering grid flexibility, picked up $225 million in Series D funding. , and led the financing for the San Francisco-based startup.

8. (tied) , $200M, fusion: Knoxville, Tennessee-based Type One Energy, a developer of fusion energy technology, secured $200 million in Series B financing led by and .

8. (tied) , $200M, insurance: Ledgebrook, an AI-powered specialty insurance platform, closed on $200 million in equity financing co-led by and . The round brings total funding to date for Boston-based Ledgebrook to around $315 million, per .

8. (tied) , $200M, AI evaluation: Arena, provider of a platform for evaluating AI models, pulled in $200 million in Series B funding and said it has exceeded a $100 million annual revenue run rate. and led the round, which set a $3.1 billion valuation for the company.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Oct. 3-9, 2026. Although most announced rounds are in the database, there may be a small time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Per 萝莉视频 data, a majority of the most active venture investors in Q3 participated in more deals compared to the prior quarter. This includes many of the usual busiest dealmakers, like , and .

The top lead venture investors also largely stepped up the pace this past quarter, even as the highest-spending among them appeared to put less capital to work. At seed stage, meanwhile, the typical top dealmakers largely held their ranks.

For a more detailed look, below we chart and analyze the most active investor ranks across multiple metrics, including venture dealmakers, high spenders, lead backers and seed funders.

Most active venture investors

We鈥檒l start with the most active investors in post-seed rounds. By this measure, topped the ranks with 45 deals. The famed accelerator typically ranks high because it participates in follow-on rounds for startups it incubates.

Next on the list were Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners and Sequoia Capital. Overall, as charted below, at least 22 investors participated in 10 or more known venture rounds this past quarter.

Busiest lead investors

Among lead investors in venture rounds, Insight, Andreessen and ranked highest with 18, 16 and 12 rounds, respectively.

Another three investors 鈥� , Sequoia and 鈥� had 10 lead deals each in Q3.

Spendiest lead investors

We also attempted to get a sense of which lead investors put the most capital work in Q3. To approximate this, our ranking looks at investors whose lead rounds had the highest aggregate value.1

By this metric, Valor and Atreides tied for the No. 1 slot, with $7.7 billion in led or co-led deals for the quarter. The two had some overlap, with at least listing both firms as lead investors. This included 鈥檚 $3.9 billion Series F and 鈥檚 $375 million Series C.

Next in the ranking were Andreessen Horowitz and , with $6.5 billion and $6.3 billion in led or co-led Q3 deals. Andreessen鈥檚 tally largely stemmed from a $2 billion round for and a $1.7 billion financing for .聽 Nvidia鈥檚 standout deal was a $5 billion round for .

Seed investors

Seed investors also kept busy in Q3. Among them, the busiest by far was Y Combinator, which participated in at least 221 known seed rounds this past quarter, per 萝莉视频 data.

also ranked high, with 31 reported seed rounds, followed by and with 24 and 23 reported deals, respectively.

Overall, another busy, AI-driven quarter

Overall, our active investor rankings paint the picture of another busy quarter for startup funding, with AI driving the bulk of dealmaking.

Mostly, it鈥檚 familiar names topping our various rankings. However, we are seeing a few firms significantly scaling up their investments, with Atreides and Valor in particular stepping up their game of late.

Related 萝莉视频 query:

Related reading:

• North America鈥檚 Startup Funding Falls In Q3 As AI Giants Eye The Public Markets
• 萝莉视频 Data: Q3 2026 Posted A Record Count Of Billion-Dollar Rounds As The Global AI Race Heats Up

Illustration:

In total, investors poured $92 billion into seed- through growth-stage rounds for U.S. and Canadian startups in the third quarter, per 萝莉视频 data. That鈥檚 a 35% decline from the prior quarter but up 50% from year-ago levels.

Deal volume held fairly steady, with late-stage and early-stage round counts remaining close to prior quarter levels.

Artificial intelligence remained the prevailing theme for startup investors. Per 萝莉视频 data, roughly two-thirds of total funding this past quarter went to AI-focused companies. Of that, a big chunk went to large rounds for , and .

Overall, however, investment fell across most stages. Early-stage dealmaking posted a particularly sharp decline from a multiyear peak the prior quarter, while later-stage funding was also down.

As for exits, quarter-over-quarter IPO comps were always going to be challenging, given that Q2 featured 鈥檚 record-setting market entry. Even compared to a typical quarter, however, the IPO market was fairly sluggish in Q3, with a few biotech, energy and consumer-facing offerings, but no blockbuster tech debuts. M&A activity was more exciting, topped by 鈥檚 September acquisition of .

Below, we look over the quarterly numbers in more detail, breaking out investment by stage, charting AI funding, and analyzing exit activity.

Table of contents

• Late-stage and technology growth funding
• Early stage
• Seed
• AI
• Exits
• M&A
• IPOs
• Slower, but not a slowdown
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Late-stage and technology growth funding

We鈥檒l start with late stage, since that鈥檚 where most startup funding went.

For Q3, investors poured $66.45 billion into late- and growth-stage deals, per 萝莉视频 data. That鈥檚 up about a third from year-ago levels, but down sharply from Q1 and Q2 of this year, when OpenAI and Anthropic pulled in financings of $110 billion and $65 billion, respectively.

For the just-ended quarter, the largest late-stage and growth rounds went to Databricks ($5 billion), AI infrastructure unicorn Crusoe ($3.9 billion), ($3 billion), and AI coding startup ($2 billion). Overall, more than a dozen startups attracted late-stage or growth rounds of $1 billion or more, per 萝莉视频 data.

Early stage

Early-stage investment also held up at historically high levels in Q3, albeit down from prior highs.

Overall, investors put $20.6 billion into early-stage rounds in the just-ended quarter, per 萝莉视频 data. That was down sequentially from the prior quarter but still well above prior year levels.

A few exceptionally big rounds pushed up the latest quarterly tally. The largest funding recipients included open source AI company 鈥檚 $1.1 billion Series A, nuclear startup 鈥� $660 million Series B, and chip hardware and software developer 鈥檚 $500 million Series A.

Seed

Seed-stage dealmaking was also quite busy in Q3.

At least $5 billion went to seed, angel and pre-seed rounds in the just-ended quarter, per preliminary 萝莉视频 data. That鈥檚 a bit below both the prior quarter and year-ago comps. However, we expect the Q3 tally to rise a bit over time as seed deals commonly get added to the dataset a few weeks or months after they close.

The AI space delivered some particularly large seed rounds. Of these, standouts were physical AI startups , which picked up $300 million, and . which secured $90 million.

AI

The percentage of funding going to AI-focused startups also held up at high levels in Q3, per 萝莉视频 data.

A total of $61 billion went to AI-focused rounds, per 萝莉视频 data. While that鈥檚 down sharply from the prior two quarters, it鈥檚 still one of the highest tallies on record.

Exits

As for exits, Q3 featured a number of large M&A deals, particularly in the AI space. The IPO market was a bit quieter, with much of the market鈥檚 attention looking forward to enormous offerings from foundational AI pioneers in coming months.

M&A

Acquisition activity was fairly robust in Q3, boosted by a handful of large AI-related purchases. Of these, the biggest was Nvidia鈥檚 acquisition of open model development platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion.

The next-biggest M&A deal was 鈥檚 purchase last week of , an AI model and research lab led by AI pioneer , in a stock deal valued around $8.2 billion. Not far behind, in third place, was 鈥檚 acquisition of , a startup that routes prompts through different AI models, in an August transaction reportedly valued around $7.5 billion.

In total, there were 11 North American startup acquisitions at reported prices of $1 billion or more in Q3, per 萝莉视频 data. We list them below.

IPOs

Overall, it was a light quarter for IPO activity. Per 萝莉视频 data, 17 venture-backed North American companies went public on major U.S. and Canadian exchanges in Q3, per 萝莉视频 data, collectively raising just under $4 billion.

Three biotech companies raised the largest sums in their IPOs: , focused on mRNA; , a developer of cardiovascular therapies; and , which is working on antibody therapeutics.

Other venture-backed companies that carried out good-sized debuts included , a developer of advanced nuclear fuel, and , the scooter and e-bike rental platform.

Notably, however, it was the IPOs that didn鈥檛 happen this quarter that attracted the most attention. By this, we are referring of course to Anthropic, which is reportedly eyeing a聽 public list as early as November, and OpenAI, which filed confidentially for an IPO in June and is expected to make its debut in 2027.

Slower, but not a slowdown

Overall, Q3 seems to exemplify the notion that funding activity can decline from peak levels without a clear indication that the investment climate has turned bearish.

Yes, giant funding rounds contracted. However, the maturation of the two most valuable startups, OpenAI and Anthropic, into even more valuable pre-IPO companies, is the kind of thing venture investors want to see.

Moreover, big rounds are still closing at a brisk clip. The AI space is still regularly minting fresh unicorns. And acquirers are snapping up leading names at historically high valuations.

Could things go south from here? Sure. But for now, the AI-driven momentum continues.

Related 萝莉视频 query:

Related reading:

• North American Startup Funding Shattered Records In First Half Of 2026, Driven By AI

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 萝莉视频, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Oct. 2, 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. 萝莉视频 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 萝莉视频 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. 萝莉视频 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. 萝莉视频 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.

This week鈥檚 list of the largest U.S. startup funding rounds was pretty much all about AI. That includes the biggest financing 鈥� a $1 billion round for , a developer of AI assistants for everyday tasks 鈥� as well as most of the rest of the Top 10. Other large fundraisers include , which is deploying AI for the home rental sector, and , an AI cybersecurity startup.

1. , $1B, AI assistants: San Francisco-based Instinct, a startup building a personal AI assistant for everyday tasks, secured $1 billion in a Series C round. , and backed the financing, which set a $10 billion valuation for the year-old company.

2. , $350M, AI for housing: EliseAI, a startup deploying AI for the home rental industry, completed a $350 million funding round at a $4 billion valuation. and led the financing for the New York-based company, which is also expanding into healthcare.

3. , $255.5M, cybersecurity: Palo Alto, California-based Armadin, an AI-native cybersecurity company focused on autonomous security, raised $255.5 million in Series B funding. and led the round, which set a valuation of more than $2.5 billion for the year-old startup.

4. , $250M, project management:聽 Kahua, a platform for enterprises to manage complex capital projects, picked up $250 million in growth funding from . The financing set a valuation of over $1 billion for the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company.

5. , $223M, AI infrastructure: Mountain View, California-based GMI Cloud, a provider of GPU cloud infrastructure used by AI teams to help train and run models, closed on $223 million in Series B funding as well as $445 million in debt financing. led the round, with participation from .

6. , $220M, foundational AI: General Intuition,a developer of AI models trained on videos and virtual worlds to develop skills for physical environments, secured $220 million in fresh funding. and were lead backers in the round, which set a $6.2 billion valuation for the New York-based company.

7. (tied) , $150M, physical AI: SiMa.ai, developer of a software platform for scaling physical AI applications, picked up $150 million in Series C financing at a $1.45 billion valuation. and led the round for the San Jose-based company.

7. (tied) , $150M, agentic app development: Supabase, provider of an AI-enabled open source Postgres platform for app developers, $150 million in new funding led by . The San Francisco-based startup also said it is acquiring database architecture startup .

9. , $145M, AI infrastructure: CScale, a developer of optical interconnect technology for AI data centers, emerged from stealth and says it secured $145 million in Series C funding.聽 , , and led the round for the Palo Alto, California-based startup.

10. , $120M, real estate: Austin-based Homeward, a startup that helps homeowners buy before selling their existing homes or get cash offers for their properties, closed on $120 million in Series D equity funding led by . The 8-year-old company also secured $330 million in debt financing.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2026. Although most announced rounds are in the database, there may be a small time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

Historically that wasn鈥檛 the case. But more recently, startup investors are putting more capital to work around these themes.

Over the past year, venture backers have poured close to $3 billion into good-sized rounds for marine-related startups in sectors ranging from defense tech to clean energy, per 萝莉视频 data. Top areas for investment include autonomous sea vessels, water robots, electric watercraft and ocean data.

Lead fundraisers

A single company 鈥� 鈥� accounts for most of the past year鈥檚 haul. The Austin-based startup, which develops autonomous sea vessels and counts the as a key customer, secured $1.75 billion in Series D funding in March.

The round, led by , set a $9.25 billion valuation for 4-year-old Saronic, which is scaling at a fast clip. The company announced this summer that it plans to invest more than $3 billion to build a next-generation shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, focused on software-defined shipbuilding and autonomous maritime systems.

China-based , a developer of marine robotics technology, was a distant second for equity fundraising. The 3-year-old startup closed on a $150 million Series A round in July backed by a long list of venture investors.

In third place, meanwhile, is Rhode Island-based , a developer of vessels called Seagliders that operate just over the water at the speed of an aircraft. The 6-year-old startup picked up $120 million in Series B equity funding in August led by maritime-focused investor and , plus an additional $120 million in debt financing.

Overall, 萝莉视频 data showed quite a few maritime-focused startups funded in roughly the past year that have raised significant capital to date. To illustrate, below we put together a sample list of 27 that fit this criteria.

Top investors

Several investors have assembled particularly prolific portfolios of companies focused on the seas.

Among generalist VCs, one standout is , a backer in three companies on our sample list: Saronic, electric-boat maker , and , a developer of small, autonomous craft for undersea environments. In its April Series A lead investment in Ulysses, the firm pointed to promoting U.S. naval supremacy as an investment theme, along with reengineering technologies first envisioned on land to also work at sea.

is another generalist that has emerged as a marine startup serial investor. The firm has backed three companies on our list: Regent, , a builder of battery electric cargo ships, and , a developer of renewable energy systems in the ocean.

Besides cross-sector venture investors, 萝莉视频 data also shows a growing array of specialized firms with multiple maritime startups in their portfolios. This includes , focused on startups reducing emissions from boats and ships, and , a marine-focused investor with Pentagon backing.

Autonomy, AI and robots

While the sea may be exotic terrain for venture dealmaking, in many ways maritime funding fits pretty cleanly into prevailing investment trends.

Perusing the sample list of funding recipients from the past year, for instance, three sectors account for the vast majority of funding: autonomy, AI and robotics. Notably, these are core areas of strength for venture investments tied to land and space as well.

Moreover, a hefty chunk of marine investment also has defense tech applications. This coincides with the sharp rise overall in recent quarters in venture investment in startups with military applications.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether venture investors鈥� enthusiasm will continue for what looks to be a capital-intensive space to scale. For now, however, marine-focused startups are managing to convince backers they can do a lot more than just stay afloat.

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• Sector Snapshot: Defense Startup Funding Hits An All-Time Record As VCs Begin To Eye Exits

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So far in 2026, investors have poured more than $6 billion into companies focused on developing both fission and fusion nuclear energy technology and infrastructure, per 萝莉视频 . That鈥檚 far ahead of any comparable period, including last year, the prior record-setter. Round counts are also holding up at historically high levels, as charted below.

Biggest rounds

Much of this year鈥檚 funding went to a few heavily financed nuclear startups.

This included two billion-dollar recipients. Massachusetts-based , which is developing what it describes as the 鈥渨orld鈥檚 first commercially-relevant net energy fusion machine,鈥� secured $1 billion in a July equity financing. Meanwhile, , a developer of grid-independent nuclear reactors, picked up $1 billion across two Series B equity tranches.

For a bigger-picture view, below we charted 11 of the largest funding rounds for the nuclear sector this year.

IPOs were going strong too

Recent quarters have also been pretty strong for IPOs tied to nuclear power. In the past six months alone, at least three companies in the space went public at initial valuations above $1 billion. Most, however, are now far below their prior highs.

The largest debut came in April from Rockville, Maryland-based , a developer of small modular nuclear reactors and fuel engineering technology, which hit a $12 billion valuation in initial trading. Shares have subsequently shed about half their value.

The next-biggest offerings were summer debuts from Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based , a developer of advanced nuclear fuels, and Berkeley, California-based , a modular reactor startup. Shares of both are trading well below former peaks.

, the -backed nuclear fission company that to some extent kicked off the nuclear IPO boomlet with its 2024 market debut via SPAC, is also seeing weakening demand. Its shares are down about two-thirds from a high point about a year ago.

Optimism matters

It鈥檚 unclear to what extent recent share price setbacks reflect diminished optimism about the feasibility of nuclear startup ambitions or more a sense that valuations warranted a cutback. In the U.S., public backlash against massive data center buildouts also affects the energy upstarts looking to power them and has contributed to investor caution.

Moreover, next-generation nuclear power is still in its early innings. Over the past few decades, the reports, very little nuclear capacity has been built, citing high capital costs and lengthy licensing and approval processes as limiting factors. Scalable fusion, meanwhile, has yet to come online.

Still, a broad assortment of nuclear projects are moving forward. Multiple companies working on small modular reactors and microreactors have projects underway in Texas, Idaho, Utah and Tennessee, per the EIA. A longer list of projects is in the later-stage planning phase. And, hefty fundraising in recent months from both IPOs and venture rounds has given startups the runway to keep forging ahead.

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• Next-Gen Nuclear Funding Looks Livelier Than Ever Following Inertia鈥檚 $450M Raise

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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 delivered a bountiful supply of big startup funding rounds, led by two $400 million financings for cybersecurity unicorns and . Rounding out the week were large financings for startups across hot sectors, including foundational AI, drug discovery, neurotech, and even rainmaking.

1. , $400M, cybersecurity: Island, a developer of tools for secure enterprise digital operations, raised $400 million in Series F financing. led the round, which set a $6.4 billion valuation for the Dallas-based company, more than double its 2024 valuation.

2. , $400M, cybersecurity: Cyera, a provider of enterprise data security tools that govern both humans and AI agents, picked up $400 million in Series G extension funding led by and backed by . The round brings total funding for New York-based Cyera to $2.7 billion, .

3. , $350M, foundational AI: San Francisco-based Snorkel AI, provider of tools for frontier labs and AI teams to develop specialized training data and environments, secured $350 million in Series E funding. and led the round, valuing the 7-year-old company at $3.2 billion, and it now has more than $375 million in annual recurring revenue.

4. , $311M, biotech: Enveda, an AI-enabled drug discovery startup, closed on $311 million in Series E financing led by and joined by a long list of new and existing investors. The round brings the Boulder, Colorado-based company’s total capital raised since inception to more than $845 million.

5. , $250M, neurotech: New York-based Precision Neuroscience, a startup focused on brain-computer interface technology, secured $250 million in Series D funding with and the as lead investors.

6. , $200M, wireless communications: Hubble Network, operator of a satellite network that extends connectivity to Bluetooth devices, pulled in $200 million in Series C funding. led the financing, which set a $1.6 billion valuation for the Seattle-based company.

7. , $155M, pharmacy benefits: New York-based Rightway, a provider of pharmacy benefits and care navigation services, raised $155 million in Series E funding led by . The startup will use the financing in part to expand its AI capabilities.

8. (tied) , $100M, cloud seeding: El Segundo, California-based Rainmaker, a startup focused on atmospheric research and producing new freshwater through cloud seeding, picked up $100 million in Series B funding. The round includes investments from , , , and .

8. (tied) , $100M, tax compliance: San Francisco-based Numeral, an AI-powered sales tax compliance platform, closed on a $100 million Series C round led by .

8. (tied) , $100M, AI data: San Francisco-based Micro1, a provider of AI training data to major AI labs, has reportedly raised a fresh funding round of more than $100 million at a valuation of $4 billion, according to a citing people familiar with the deal.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Sept. 19-25, 2026. Although most announced rounds are in the database, there may be a small time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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