AI mega-rounds surge: 49 startups raised $100M+ in 2024, momentum continues
xAI lands $20B round, Cursor hits $29B valuation — 2026 already on fire.
Get AI news that actually matters
One email a day. Zero fluff. Join 10,000+ professionals.
According to TechCrunch, the AI industry closed 2024 with 49 startups raising mega-rounds of $100M+, including seven that raised $1B or more. Three companies secured multiple mega-rounds that year. The momentum carried into 2025, where the number of companies raising multiple rounds jumped to eight — among them were Anthropic (two rounds over $1B), Cursor (a $2.3B round at $29.3B valuation), and Luma AI ($900M at $4B valuation). Other notable 2025 raises include Unconventional AI's $475M seed, Parallel's $100M Series A, and Hippocratic AI's $126M Series C.
Early 2026 has already seen record-breaking rounds: Elon Musk's xAI announced a $20B Series E, and Sam Altman's brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs raised a $250M seed round with OpenAI as lead investor. Other standout rounds from late 2025 include Fireworks AI ($250M at $4B), OpenEvidence ($200M at $6B), and Reflection AI ($2B at $8B). The trend points to sustained investor appetite for AI infrastructure, agents, and vertical applications, from cybersecurity (7AI) to drug discovery (Chai Discovery).
- 49 US AI startups raised $100M+ rounds in 2024; seven exceeded $1B.
- 2025 saw eight companies raise multiple mega-rounds, including Anthropic, Cursor ($2.3B at $29.3B), and Luma AI ($900M at $4B).
- Early 2026 kicked off with xAI's $20B Series E and Merge Labs' $250M seed led by OpenAI.
Why It Matters
Investor confidence in AI remains extreme — massive rounds signal a race to build infrastructure and agents for enterprise and consumer use.