North America Q1 2026 startup funding hits record $252.6 billion, more than triple prior quarter

U.S. and Canadian companies secured $252.6 billion in seed-through-growth funding in Q1 2026, more than three times the prior quarter and the largest quarterly total on record per Crunchbase data. The record quarter is overwhelmingly driven by AI mega-rounds including investments in OpenAI, Anthropic, and others, but the data shows funding surged across all stages, not just at the top. The figure underscores the unprecedented capital concentration in AI and the broader venture ecosystem's acceleration in early 2026.