The percentage of U.S. startup funding committed to rounds of $100 million or more reached an all-time high in 2025. This is a development that ought to come as no surprise to anyone following the development of AI mega-rounds.
Estimated to be 70% of all startup funding in the US 1 a whopping $100 million or more in funding has been awarded this yr, in line with Crunchbase. This equates to roughly $157 billion spread over greater than 300 reported rounds.
To compare this case with previous years, we looked at the share of investments in these large rounds over the last eight years.
Comparison of 2025 with the last peak
It’s price noting that this yr’s total is not the highest total ever. This title falls in 2021, the peak of the last bull market.
Four years ago, a hot IPO market, soaring tech stock prices and a strong appetite from startup investors to write down big checks helped send total funds to stratospheric levels. While much of this went to outstanding unicorns, the level of early-stage dealmaking was also significant.
This yr, meanwhile, a few big names have a much larger share of the funding pie. Biggest deal – OpenAI‘S unprecedented $40 billion SoftBanksecured financing – itself represents roughly a quarter of all financing as much as mega-rounds price over $100 million.
Investments are, in fact, much more focused around artificial intelligence. According to Crunchbase data, over two-thirds of megaround investments this yr went to corporations in the artificial intelligence category.
Global status of megarounds
Globally, the megaround picture does not look radically different. According to Crunchbase data, in 2025, roughly 60% of all startup funding was committed to funding of $100 million or more.
This puts this yr roughly on par with peak funding participation in 2021, as shown below.
The evolution of the asset class
So will this growing concentration of capital last? Every time we see a latest trend in enterprise funding, the query arises: Is it a cyclical decline or simply the latest normal?
This time around, a solid argument can be made each ways for increasing funding participation in large rounds. On the other hand, it appears that evidently the rise of generative artificial intelligence giants is a phenomenon very specific to this cycle.
However, concentrating capital into a smaller set of megarounds is not only a matter of generational AI. Investor activity is also increasing in the everlasting pursuit of getting in their portfolio corporations with the highest probability of success. They are willing to write down greater checks at higher valuations for the privilege of striking a competitive deal.