U.S. acquirers have poured $119.8 billion into venture‑backed startups so far in 2026, on track to beat last year’s record. Roughly half of that sum stems from Space X’s $60 billion purchase of AI‑coding platform Cursor and its parent Anysphere, the largest startup deal ever and nearly twice Google’s $32 billion Wiz acquisition. The surge follows a wave of cash‑rich tech giants seeking AI talent and scaling capabilities.

Biotech accounted for half of the ten biggest disclosed deals this quarter. Eli Lilly announced a cash transaction up to $7 billion for Kelonia Therapeutics, marking the largest venture‑backed biotech purchase in years. The pharma giant also paid up to $2.4 billion for Orna Therapeutics and $2.3 billion for Ajax Therapeutics, underscoring a surge in high‑value life‑science exits. They signal strong demand for gene‑editing and next‑gen therapeutics platforms.

Outside biotech, Capital One acquired Brex for $5.15 billion, while Qualcomm sealed a $4 billion deal for AI‑chip maker Modular. Salesforce and Autodesk each spent $3.6 billion on Fin and Maintain X respectively. With the second quarter closing, 2026 already ranks as a heavyweight year for startup M&A, driven by a handful of mega‑transactions. Analysts note that such concentrated spending could skew valuation benchmarks for smaller targets.