Nearly 20 U.S.-based AI startups have already secured mega-rounds of $100 million or more in 2026 — and the year is barely underway.

 

If the opening weeks are any indication, the AI startup market could be headed for yet another year of massive funding rounds at staggering valuations. In 2025, U.S. AI startups pulled in more than $76 billion through mega-rounds, according to TechCrunch.

 

Will 2026 match that momentum? It’s too early to say.

 

Below are the U.S.-based AI startups that have raised $100 million or more so far this year:

 

February
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Simile, which develops AI systems designed to mimic human decision-making, raised a $100 million Series A led by Index Ventures. Announced February 12, the round also included Hanabi Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and several angel investors.

 

Anthropic announced a $30 billion Series G round on February 12, valuing the AI research lab at $380 billion. More than 30 investors participated, including Founders Fund, Coatue, and Nvidia.

 

Media-generation platform Runway raised a $315 million Series E on February 10, led by General Atlantic. The round valued the company at $5.3 billion and included Nvidia, Fidelity, and Felicis.

 

AI research lab Goodfire announced a $150 million Series B on February 5, led by B Capital, with participation from Juniper Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures. The round valued the company at $1.25 billion.

 

AI research company Fundamental raised a $255 million Series A on February 5, valuing the company at $1.4 billion. Investors included Oak HC/FT, Salesforce Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and QP Ventures.

 

Voice AI startup ElevenLabs announced a $500 million Series D on February 4, led by Sequoia Capital. The round valued the company at $11 billion.

 

January
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Compute platform PaleBlueDot AI raised a $150 million Series B on January 28, led by B Capital, valuing the company at $1 billion.

 

Conversational AI platform Decagon secured a $250 million Series D on January 28, co-led by Coatue and Index Ventures, at a $4.5 billion valuation.

 

AI research lab Flapping Airplanes raised a $180 million seed round on January 28, led by Google Ventures, Sequoia, and Index Ventures. The company was valued at $1.5 billion.

 

AI infrastructure startup Baseten closed a $300 million Series E on January 23, led by IVP and CapitalG, valuing the company at $5 billion.

 

AI inference startup Inferact raised a $150 million seed round on January 22, just months after launch. The round, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, valued the company at $800 million.

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based OpenEvidence raised a $250 million Series D on January 21 for its medical AI chatbot. The round was co-led by Thrive Global and DST Global and valued the company at $12 billion.

 

AI research lab humans& announced a $480 million seed round on January 20. Investors included Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and GV. The round valued the startup at $4.48 billion.

 

Robotics-focused AI company SkildAI raised a $1.4 billion Series C on January 14, led by SoftBank and Nvidia, at a $14 billion valuation.

 

Voice AI platform Deepgram secured a $130 million Series C on January 13, led by AVP, with participation from Tiger Global, ServiceNow Ventures, and Madrona. The round valued the company at $1.3 billion.

 

Large language model evaluation platform Arena raised a $150 million Series A on January 6, co-led by Felicis and UC Investments. The one-year-old startup was valued at $1.7 billion.

 

xAI, founded by Elon Musk, kicked off the year with a $20 billion Series E announced January 6. Investors included Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, and the Qatar Investment Authority. The company was acquired by SpaceX just weeks later.