More money, fewer rounds. That, in short, is the state of U.S. Series B startup funding in 2026, as venture capital investment continues to concentrate heavily around a handful of AI hotshots. Crunchbase data shows that so far this year, investors have poured around $48 billion into financings around the Series B stage, the highest tally in years. Yet round counts are below year-ago levels and are on track for a multiyear low.
One trend driving capital concentration is a sharp decline in small and mid-sized Series B rounds. So far this year, less than a third of deals in the sample set were for under $30 million. By contrast, between 2021 and 2025, rounds in this range accounted for about half of deals. The smallest Series B deals have gotten particularly scarce, with just 26 rounds under $10 million in the sample set.
On the flip side, really large Series B rounds are quite popular. At least 110 companies have raised rounds of $100 million or more around this stage so far this year, roughly a quarter of all deals. The largest was a $12 billion round for Prometheus, Jeff Bezos' physical AI startup. Model developer World Labs, led by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, closed on $1 billion in February. Nuclear energy startup Valar Atomics also secured $1 billion in Series B funding with Sequoia Capital as lead investor.
So far this year, about two-thirds of Series B funding has gone to AI-focused startups, per Crunchbase data. The environment looks particularly favorable for companies that have already raised considerable sums at Series A and seed. Even so, these don't look like the best of times for startups seeking smaller Series B rounds.
Source: Crunchbase News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing