US Venture Capital Outlook: Midyear Update 2026 (PitchBook)

Summary

• OpenAI's $122 billion round collected more value than all other quarterly totals ever recorded in US venture capital.p.2
• First-financing VC deal count in the US is tracking to exceed 7,000 by year-end 2026.p.4
• Late-stage VC deal activity deployed $59.3 billion across an estimated 1,990 deals through May 31, 2026.p.6
• Venture-growth activity deployed $274.2 billion across an estimated 409 deals through May 31, 2026.p.6
• The aggregate post-money valuation of US active unicorns reached $6.6 trillion in 2026, up from $3.9 trillion in Q3 2025.p.8
• Fundraising concentration reached high levels, with funds greater than $1 billion accounting for 71.9% of total capital raised YTD.p.13

Key insights

1. OpenAI's $122 billion round was more than four times larger than Anthropic's $30 billion Q1 round.p.2
2. SpaceX completed its IPO at a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion in June 2026.p.2
3. Four mega-rounds raised by OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI totaled $237 billion and accounted for 86.4% of YTD venture-growth deal value.p.6
4. Waymo raised a $16 billion Series D round that accounted for 27% of total late-stage YTD deal value.p.6
5. The combined valuation of Anthropic, OpenAI, and Databricks reached $1.95 trillion in 2026, up from $783 billion in Q3 2025.p.8