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AI startup funding

Updated 23 Oct 2026

AI startups closed 6,931 funding rounds from October 2025 to September 2026, 34.5% of all startup rounds, and raised $170.2 billion in the rounds with a disclosed amount. Source: FundingWatcher, October 2026.

Value
6,931
Unit
funding rounds dated October 2025 to September 2026
Data as of
23 October 2026
Source
FundingWatcher, October 2026
AI startup funding rounds per month by region, October 2025 to September 2026United StatesEuropeChinaRest of the worldUnited States, Oct 25: 294Europe, Oct 25: 95China, Oct 25: 21Rest of the world, Oct 25: 118528Oct 25United States, Nov 25: 226Europe, Nov 25: 84China, Nov 25: 31Rest of the world, Nov 25: 103444Nov 25United States, Dec 25: 292Europe, Dec 25: 72China, Dec 25: 32Rest of the world, Dec 25: 107503Dec 25United States, Jan 26: 540Europe, Jan 26: 68China, Jan 26: 52Rest of the world, Jan 26: 104764Jan 26United States, Feb 26: 301Europe, Feb 26: 78China, Feb 26: 24Rest of the world, Feb 26: 107510Feb 26United States, Mar 26: 397Europe, Mar 26: 98China, Mar 26: 38Rest of the world, Mar 26: 75608Mar 26United States, Apr 26: 269Europe, Apr 26: 84China, Apr 26: 34Rest of the world, Apr 26: 83470Apr 26United States, May 26: 280Europe, May 26: 81China, May 26: 32Rest of the world, May 26: 77470May 26United States, Jun 26: 439Europe, Jun 26: 156China, Jun 26: 67Rest of the world, Jun 26: 111773Jun 26United States, Jul 26: 283Europe, Jul 26: 107China, Jul 26: 61Rest of the world, Jul 26: 120571Jul 26United States, Aug 26: 295Europe, Aug 26: 68China, Aug 26: 70Rest of the world, Aug 26: 127560Aug 26United States, Sep 26: 381Europe, Sep 26: 144China, Sep 26: 71Rest of the world, Sep 26: 134730Sep 26
Figure 1. AI startup funding rounds per month by region, October 2025 to September 2026. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026.

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Month

MonthRoundsShare of all roundsRaised
October 202552831.1%$6B
November 202544429.2%$6.4B
December 202550332.1%$4.8B
January 202676436.1%$26.8B
February 202651031.1%$6.9B
March 202660832.8%$11B
April 202647032.3%$10.5B
May 202647034.8%$12.6B
June 202677341.1%$23.4B
July 202657135.4%$17.9B
August 202656036.7%$15.3B
September 202673039.2%$28.7B

Table 1. AI startup funding, by month. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026. Base: 6,931.

Stage

StageRoundsMedian round
Pre-seed2,009$500K
Seed3,317$3.1M
Series A910$18M
Series B423$40M
Series C163$100M
Series D+109$135M

Table 2. AI startup funding, by stage. Source: FundingWatcher. Data as of 23 October 2026. Base: 6,931.

Previous values

MonthData as ofValue
October 202619 October 20266,936
September 202628 September 20266,626

Table 3. AI 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. Industry is the Crunchbase category group. Raised sums the rounds with a disclosed amount. Full method.

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AI startups closed 6,931 funding rounds from October 2025 to September 2026, 34.5% of all startup rounds, and raised $170.2 billion in the rounds with a disclosed amount. Source: FundingWatcher, October 2026.
https://fundingwatcher.com/data/ai-startup-funding/
<a href="https://fundingwatcher.com/data/ai-startup-funding/"><img src="https://fundingwatcher.com/static/figures/ai-startup-funding.png" alt="AI startups closed 6,931 funding rounds from October 2025 to September 2026, 34.5% of all startup rounds, and raised $170.2 billion in the rounds with a disclosed amount." width="1200" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://fundingwatcher.com/data/ai-startup-funding/">FundingWatcher</a>, October 2026</p>

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