The Rise And Rise Of Billion-Dollar-Plus Rounds
So far this year, 60% of global startup funding across stages - around $320 billion - went to rounds of $1 billion or more, per Crunchbase data, with such rounds instrumental in pushing global funding for the first half of the year to record levels. Joanna Glasner jglasner Startup funding used to be associated with smallish bets on promising founders. While financings of a few million haven't gone away, today most venture capital actually goes to rounds of a billion dollars or more.
Key Takeaways
- Moreover, it looks like a rising trend.
So far this year, 60% of global startup funding across stages 1 - around $320 billion - went to rounds of $1 billion or more, per Crunchbase data.
- The lone exception was the first quarter of 2025, when OpenAI closed a $40 billion financing.
Not just bigger deals, more of them too Giant rounds aren't just getting more ginormous.
- Only two of this year's billion-dollar-plus rounds - Prometheus and World Labs - were seed or early-stage rounds, per Crunchbase data.
Lessons from the first crop of billion-plus financings In the history of startups, meanwhile, the billion-dollar-plus venture funding round is a fairly contemporary phenomenon.
- Two of the megafund recipients - Argo AI and WeWork - did not fare so well, while a third, cancer diagnostics provider Grail, has been up and down.
- ↩ Tags unicorn Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily.
Stats & Key Facts
- #So far this year, 60% of global startup funding across stages - around $320 billion - went to rounds of $1 billion or more, per Crunchbase data, with such rounds instrumental in pushing global funding for the first half of the year to record levels.
- #So far this year, 60% of global startup funding across stages - around $320 billion - went to rounds of $1 billion or more, per Crunchbase data, with such rounds instrumental in pushing global funding for the first half of the year to record levels.
- #So far this year, 60% of global startup funding across stages 1 - around $320 billion - went to rounds of $1 billion or more, per Crunchbase data.
- #funding tallies are even more tilted to megadeals this year, with 73% of funding going to billion-dollar-plus rounds.
Moreover, it looks like a rising trend. So far this year, 60% of global startup funding across stages 1 - around $320 billion - went to rounds of $1 billion or more, per Crunchbase data. Such rounds were instrumental in pushing global funding for the first half of the year to record levels .
funding tallies are even more tilted to megadeals this year, with 73% of funding going to billion-dollar-plus rounds. Of the $290 billion invested in these deals, just two rounds for AI leaders OpenAI and Anthropic account for more than half the total. As you can see, the notion of billion-dollar-plus rounds accounted for a minority of funding before this year.
The lone exception was the first quarter of 2025, when OpenAI closed a $40 billion financing. Not just bigger deals, more of them too Giant rounds aren't just getting more ginormous. They're happening with greater frequency too.
For more details please read the original article at Crunchbase News.
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