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AI share of startup funding

Updated 23 Oct 2026

AI startups closed 34.5% of startup funding rounds from October 2025 to September 2026 and took 54.3% of the disclosed dollars. The monthly share went from 31.1% in October 2025 to 39.2% in September 2026. Source: FundingWatcher, October 2026.

Value
34.5%
Unit
share of startup funding rounds that went to AI startups, October 2025 to September 2026
Data as of
23 October 2026
Source
FundingWatcher, October 2026
AI share of startup funding rounds per month by region, October 2025 to September 2026All countriesUnited StatesEuropeChina0%28%55%Oct 25Nov 25Dec 25Jan 26Feb 26Mar 26Apr 26May 26Jun 26Jul 26Aug 26Sep 26All countriesAll countries, Oct 25: 31%All countries, Nov 25: 29%All countries, Dec 25: 32%All countries, Jan 26: 36%All countries, Feb 26: 31%All countries, Mar 26: 33%All countries, Apr 26: 32%All countries, May 26: 35%All countries, Jun 26: 41%All countries, Jul 26: 35%All countries, Aug 26: 37%All countries, Sep 26: 39%United StatesUnited States, Oct 25: 41%United States, Nov 25: 45%United States, Dec 25: 49%United States, Jan 26: 50%United States, Feb 26: 46%United States, Mar 26: 47%United States, Apr 26: 43%United States, May 26: 47%United States, Jun 26: 51%United States, Jul 26: 43%United States, Aug 26: 47%United States, Sep 26: 51%EuropeEurope, Oct 25: 29%Europe, Nov 25: 33%Europe, Dec 25: 31%Europe, Jan 26: 28%Europe, Feb 26: 28%Europe, Mar 26: 31%Europe, Apr 26: 32%Europe, May 26: 32%Europe, Jun 26: 44%Europe, Jul 26: 38%Europe, Aug 26: 35%Europe, Sep 26: 41%ChinaChina, Oct 25: 12%China, Nov 25: 12%China, Dec 25: 10%China, Jan 26: 13%China, Feb 26: 10%China, Mar 26: 12%China, Apr 26: 16%China, May 26: 15%China, Jun 26: 27%China, Jul 26: 20%China, Aug 26: 25%China, Sep 26: 25%United States 51%Europe 41%All countries 39%China 25%
Figure 1. AI share of startup funding rounds per month by region, October 2025 to September 2026. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026.
AI share of startup funding rounds per month, October 2025 to September 202631.1%Oct29.2%Nov32.1%Dec36.1%Jan31.1%Feb32.8%Mar32.3%Apr34.8%May41.1%Jun35.4%Jul36.7%Aug39.2%Sep
Figure 2. AI share of startup funding rounds per month, October 2025 to September 2026. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026.

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Month

MonthAll roundsAI roundsAI share of roundsAI share of dollars
October 20251,70052831.1%32.2%
November 20251,52244429.2%45.5%
December 20251,56850332.1%32.5%
January 20262,11976436.1%69.1%
February 20261,63951031.1%42.0%
March 20261,85160832.8%46.6%
April 20261,45747032.3%50.8%
May 20261,35047034.8%58.3%
June 20261,88377341.1%61.0%
July 20261,61357135.4%58.1%
August 20261,52556036.7%54.9%
September 20261,86173039.2%59.9%

Table 1. AI share of startup funding, by month. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026. Base: 20,088.

Previous values

MonthData as ofValue
October 202619 October 202634.5%
September 202628 September 202632.9%

Table 2. AI share of startup funding, value at each monthly update. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026.

Method: Rounds dated October 2025 to September 2026, counted from the startup file of 23 October 2026. The file keeps each company's most recent pre-seed, seed, angel or Series A to J round only, so a company that raised twice in the window counts once. AI means the Crunchbase artificial intelligence category group. Dollar shares use rounds with a disclosed amount. Full method.

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AI startups closed 34.5% of startup funding rounds from October 2025 to September 2026 and took 54.3% of the disclosed dollars. The monthly share went from 31.1% in October 2025 to 39.2% in September 2026. Source: FundingWatcher, October 2026.
https://fundingwatcher.com/data/ai-share-of-startup-funding/
<a href="https://fundingwatcher.com/data/ai-share-of-startup-funding/"><img src="https://fundingwatcher.com/static/figures/ai-share-of-startup-funding.png" alt="AI startups closed 34.5% of startup funding rounds from October 2025 to September 2026 and took 54.3% of the disclosed dollars. The monthly share went from 31.1% in October 2025 to 39.2% in September 2026." width="1200" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://fundingwatcher.com/data/ai-share-of-startup-funding/">FundingWatcher</a>, October 2026</p>

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