A Record 14 Billion-Dollar Rounds In July Pushed Venture’s Historic Run Higher

Global venture funding showed no signs of slowing in July. Startup capital totaled $65 billion, up 100% year over year, as the month notched the highest-ever number of billion-dollar venture rounds on record, per Crunchbase data. July ranked as the third-largest funding month of the year, up 10% over June, following on the heels of a record-breaking first half of 2026 , when startups raised $515 billion globally. Fourteen startups raised billion-dollar rounds in July, the highest count in a single month, though not the largest amount raised in such deals, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. The tally includes nine U.S.-based companies, two each from Germany and China, and one company headquartered in Singapore. The largest startup funding deal last month was a $10 billion investment in Blue Origin , the first external financing for the Jeff Bezos -founded space exploration company. Safe Superintelligence , a frontier lab founded by former OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever , reportedly raised $5 billion from Nvidia . The next two largest deals were Beijing-based frontier lab Moonshot AI ’s $3.5 billion raise after releasing its latest Kimi K3 model, and Kling AI raising $2.8 billion for short-video generation. Two Germany-based companies in defense tech also raised billion-dollar rounds: Helsing and Quantum Systems . In the U.S., companies that raised billion-dollar-plus rounds spanned the energy, industrial robotics, AI training, security and semiconductor industries. Funding to AI A total of $35 billion, or around 53% of global venture funding, went to AI-focused companies in July. Other leading sectors were aerospace, defense and energy. U.S.-based companies raised a total of $39 billion, or around 59% of global venture capital, last month with roughly half of the capital invested in its AI-focused companies. Exits July was also a robust month for startup exits, including via acquisition and public-market debuts. Venture-backed M&A totaled more than $9 billion in July, with five companies exiting at prices over $1 billion, Crunchbase data shows. Notable acquisitions included London-based data center provider Nscale ’s roughly $1.65 billion acquisition of software layer Anyscale , which was built to manage AI workflows, and in the security sector, AI-native security company Cyera ’s $1 billion acquisition of Oasis Security , a service to manage non-human identities. Twelve venture-backed companies went public above $1 billion in value in July, including five from China, six U.S.-based companies, and one from Italy. The largest was Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies , which went public at around $85 billion and surged 466% on its debut . Italy-based Bending Spoons , an acquirer of software companies including Evernote and AOL , went public at a value of $18.5 billion. And last-mile transportation company Lime , founded in 2017, went public at $1.6 billion in value, raising $167 million in the process. In closing If the first half of 2026 established that venture has entered a new era of mega-financings, July reinforced that the trend is broadening rather than fading. Record numbers of billion-dollar rounds in both hardware and software, alongside a healthy IPO and M&A market, point to an ecosystem where capital is not only concentrating in category leaders but is also beginning to recycle through exits. Related Crunchbase queries: Global Venture Funding In 2026 Global Venture Funding To AI Startups In 2026 Global IPOs For Venture-Backed Companies In 2026 Global M&A In 2026 For Venture-Backed Companies Methodology The data contained in this report comes directly from Crunchbase, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Aug. 3, 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. Crunchbase 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 Crunchbase 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. Crunchbase 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. Crunchbase 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 “Series [Letter]” 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 “venture” round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.) Illustration: Dom Guzman