Current News on Startups and Venture Investments for Friday, January 9, 2026: Record AI Rounds, Mega Fund Activity, Unicorn Growth, and IPO Market Resurgence.
The global startup and venture capital market is welcoming 2026 on a wave of renewed activity. Major funds are once again ramping up capital, investments are hitting records in the field of artificial intelligence, and the window for initial public offerings (IPOs) is beginning to open after a period of stagnation over the past few years. Below are the current venture investment and startup news as of Friday, January 9, 2026, presented in a business style understandable to international investors and funds.
Venture Mega Funds Make a Comeback
Following last year's downturn, leading venture players are once again attracting record capital, intensifying market concentration. Despite the number of new funds hitting a decade-low in 2025, several mega funds have significantly boosted the overall industry metrics. Investors are concentrating resources with proven teams, betting on their access to the most promising deals. Among the largest new funds:
- Lightspeed Venture Partners — raised around $9 billion in total (six new funds), ending 2025 with the largest capital raise in the market. Lightspeed solidified its status as a mega-fund, focusing on substantial bets in AI.
- Dragoneer Investment Group — formed a new $4.3 billion fund, continuing its strategy of large investments in late-stage companies, including over $3 billion invested in OpenAI.
- Founders Fund — closed a $4.5 billion growth fund in 2025, along with several early-stage funds focused on technology unicorns.
- Lux Capital — at the beginning of 2026, announced the closure of a $1.5 billion fund, the largest in the 25-year history of this firm specializing in science-intensive startups (defense, space, biotech).
Additionally, major funds such as Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst had previously raised $7–8 billion each (in 2024), while Thrive Capital is targeting $6–8 billion. Although the overall number of new venture funds has decreased, the top 10 players have collectively raised about half of all funds, indicating a trend: capital is flowing toward "mega-funds," leaving fewer opportunities for smaller teams. For venture investors, this signals the growing role of large institutional LPs and the challenges in securing capital for new funds without a high-profile name.
Record Investment Rounds in AI
Startups working with artificial intelligence continue to attract unprecedented sums. The year 2025 was notable for a surge of mega-rounds in AI — industry analysts report that 15 companies attracted $2 billion or more, totaling over $100 billion in funding. The largest deals have set historical records in the venture market:
- OpenAI — secured $40 billion in investments in March 2025 (with SoftBank as the lead investor). This marks the largest venture financing in history, demonstrating colossal investor confidence in generative AI platforms.
- xAI — Elon Musk's AI startup, attracted $20 billion in a Series E round by early 2026, exceeding the initially planned $15 billion. The round was supported by major funds from the USA, Qatar, and others, emphasizing the global nature of the race for leadership in AI.
- Scale AI — received $14.3 billion from Meta in the summer of 2025. The investment was accompanied by a strategic partnership: part of the Scale AI team transitioned to Meta, combining efforts to develop AI models. The deal valued the startup at $29 billion.
- Anthropic — raised $13 billion in September 2025 (round F) at a valuation of approximately $183 billion. Investors included Iconiq Capital, Fidelity, Lightspeed, among others. Such a high valuation reflects the excitement surrounding developers of cutting-edge large language models.
- Project Prometheus — a new startup led by Jeff Bezos, launched in late 2025 with funding of $6.2 billion. The company aims to apply AI to solve physical challenges, and such generous initial funding shows investors' willingness to invest in ambitious long-term projects.
In addition to these, the market has also taken notice of large rounds in xAI (Musk's startup has now attracted over $22 billion since its inception), Databricks ($4 billion in December 2025 at a valuation of $134 billion, amid explosive revenue growth from its AI data platform), and other deals. Even relatively young projects are raising enormous sums: for example, the startup Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, secured $2 billion in seed funding at a valuation of $10 billion – a record seed round on the market. The dominance of AI is apparent: the overwhelming majority of mega-deals are concentrated in this sector. Global venture investors generally agree that a few standout AI companies have the potential to deliver disproportionately high returns, which is why funding is concentrated around them. However, experts caution that not every hot AI startup will meet expectations, and investors are becoming increasingly discerning in selecting "hidden gems" among numerous similar players.
Diversification: Defense, Energy, and Crypto
Not only artificial intelligence can attract substantial funds — 2025 saw significant deals in other segments of the technology market. The defense technology and energy sectors, as well as select projects in the crypto and fintech industries, stood out:
- Defense Technologies. The geopolitical climate has stimulated unprecedented investment in defense tech. American startup Anduril Industries raised $2.5 billion in round G (June 2025) with a doubled valuation to over $30 billion. According to Forbes, at least 10 new "unicorns" emerged in the defense sector in 2025, and the total volume of venture investment in defense technologies exceeded $48 billion. Funds that invested in military technologies long before this trend (e.g., Lux Capital) are now reaping the rewards — investors see a steady demand from governments for safety innovations.
- Energy and Climate Technologies. The transition to clean energy has gained new momentum thanks to AI technologies. British energy giant Octopus Energy at the end of 2025 spun off its technology platform Kraken into a separate company, which received around $1 billion in investments at a valuation of $8.65 billion. The Kraken platform uses AI to optimize energy grids and customer service, and this deal signals the market's readiness to funnel significant funds into climate tech if scalable solutions are proposed. In the clean energy space, Octopus Energy previously attracted $320 million for expansion into US markets. A significant deal was also seen in Europe, with Dutch chip manufacturer ASML investing $2 billion in French AI startup Mistral AI, valuing it at $13.2 billion and bolstering the development of European competencies in AI and hardware.
- Cryptocurrencies and Fintech. Despite a decline in interest in crypto assets, several major players are making targeted investments. The operator of the New York Stock Exchange, ICE, announced in October 2025 plans to invest up to $2 billion in the blockchain platform Polymarket (a prediction market), which valued the startup at around $8 billion and reflects traditional financial institutions' interest in Web3 infrastructure. In March, Abu Dhabi-based investment fund MGX injected $2 billion into global crypto exchange Binance amid regulatory challenges. In the fintech sector, no new mega-rounds were observed, but the industry maintains its momentum: Indian fintech startup Knight FinTech attracted $23.6 million, payment and neobank services are expanding their customer bases, while the most valued fintech unicorns (Stripe, Revolut, etc.) are preparing for a public offering as market conditions improve.
Overall, 2025 demonstrated that investors are willing to finance not only software AI companies but also "real sector" projects if they possess a technological breakthrough. The synergy of AI with industries previously distant from IT has led to significant raises in agri-tech (e.g., Indian startups Arya and Unnati raised tens of millions in agricultural platforms), healthcare (biotech companies worldwide continued to attract capital, though they made fewer headlines), and industrial automation. Robotics is also on the brink of growth: falling sensor costs and AI development promise to launch a new generation of robotics startups in 2026, attracting serious investments. Thus, apart from AI-internet investors, a demand is forming for projects in defense, climate, and other niches capable of solving tangible challenges.
IPO Market Resurgence
After nearly two years of dormancy, venture stars are reappearing on global exchanges — the IPO market began to revive in the second half of 2025. Declining inflation and stabilizing interest rates created conditions for the return of liquidity, and several technology companies successfully went public, breathing optimism into the venture community. In the US, several "unicorns" debuted: for instance, companies from the Lightspeed Venture Partners portfolio — cybersecurity firm Rubrik, cloud service Netskope, and corporate travel startup Navan — conducted IPOs in 2024-2025, showing investors steady growth and offering the long-awaited exits. These placements confirmed that investors are once again ready to buy shares in high-tech firms if they possess strong fundamentals.
Movements were also noted in other markets: Indian OYO (an online hotel booking platform) renewed its IPO plans at the end of 2025, signaling a revival of appetite for public offerings even in developing ecosystems. In Europe, cautious optimism prevailed — several IPOs of technology companies took place on the London and Amsterdam exchanges with moderate success, although levels have yet to reach the boom levels of 2021. Nevertheless, a wave of IPOs is expected to continue in 2026. Analysts have named candidates among the largest private startups that might take the leap to the public market: financial giant Stripe, data platform Databricks, software robotics producer Automation Anywhere, as well as a number of companies in the artificial intelligence sector. The resumption of the IPO catalog is crucial for venture funds — successful placements enhance valuation multiples and allow LP investors to achieve the long-awaited returns. Simultaneously, the mergers and acquisitions market is also becoming active: many "stuck" late-stage startups prefer strategic M&A when IPOs are unavailable, providing exits for venture players.
Increase in Unicorns and New Valuations
Despite more selective funding, the total number of startup unicorns (valued above $1 billion) reached a new high. According to industry trackers, by the end of 2025, there were over 1,300 private companies worldwide with valuations exceeding $1 billion, compared to around 1,100 at the start of 2023. Throughout 2025, the market "spawned" at least 80 new unicorns, a significant portion of which are in AI and defense. Some companies even skipped the unicorn status and became "decacorns" (valuations >$10 billion) or higher right away. For example, the aforementioned Anthropic and xAI surpassed valuations in the tens of billions well before going public. This rapid rise in valuations has led to the emergence of the term "pegasus" — a label some investors propose for a startup that attracts $1 billion in funding at the seed stage. While this is a semi-joking designation, the market is indeed witnessing more instances of enormous rounds at the very early stage, especially if the founders are industry stars with previous successes.
However, the rapid surge in valuations is not uniform across the entire market. For most startups, access to capital has become more challenging than in the era of low rates just a few years ago. Investors demand convincing metrics and uniqueness: the hundredth AI startup with a similar idea is unlikely to receive a high valuation now. Nevertheless, those companies that offer breakthrough solutions can still achieve billion-dollar valuations in record time. In 2025, startups demonstrated the ability to go from $0 to $100 million in revenue in just a year or two, a feat that previously seemed impossible. In 2026, the trend of "accelerated unicorns" is expected to continue, especially if generative AI technologies continue to be rapidly adopted in business and life.
Capital Concentration Among Market Leaders
One of the key themes in the venture industry has been the concentration of capital in the hands of the largest players and changing investor strategies. Traditional "middle-market" venture funds are feeling the pressure — limited partners (LPs) prefer to invest in a smaller number of large funds that have access to top deals and can write checks for hundreds of millions. As a result, most venture money is flowing to a few prominent firms or specialized niche funds, while new teams are struggling with fundraising. This trend is intensifying the influence of large institutional LPs (pension funds, sovereign wealth funds), which dictate strict terms and demand proven results from VC managers.
In response to this capital redistribution, the venture sector is seeking new approaches. Some top firms are expanding their product lines: ideas are emerging to launch proprietary mutual funds or platforms to attract retail investors (also through relaxations in 401(k) pension accounts in the US). The goal — to access even broader resources beyond traditional LPs, as management fees for large funds are more predictable than profit shares (carry) in an uncertain future. Simultaneously, smaller and newer funds are experimenting with fee structures and strategies, attempting to attract capital amid a consolidating market. In 2025, according to PitchBook, the number of new funds nearly halved, but the sums raised by individual funds increased — this compels young teams to find their niche or merge with larger players.
The influx of capital from non-financial investors has also become noticeable. Family offices and sovereign funds are filling the gap left by the exit of several traditional LPs: direct investments by wealthy families and states in startups have soared. For instance, Middle Eastern funds are actively participating in major deals (including the aforementioned investments by Qatar's QIA in xAI, MGX in Binance, etc.), providing checks worth hundreds of millions when traditional venture funds are already being cautious. This is resulting in late-stage startups increasingly being financed by consortia of several mega-funds and sovereign investors, altering the balance of power in the venture field.
Discipline and Efficiency of Startups
For startups themselves, the new reality of the venture market means heightened demands for efficiency. If two to three years ago, capital was given for bold ideas with minimal metrics, now both funds and shareholders expect teams to demonstrate business resilience. The best founders of 2025 displayed an ability to lead their companies with financial discipline in mind: optimizing costs, extending the "runway" by cutting expenses, improving gross margins, and customer retention. Investors are increasingly interested not only in market potential but also in how close the startup is to breakeven or whether it has a clear plan to achieve profitability.
In a market still in recovery, stories showcasing smart strategy execution, rather than just grand visionary ideas, appear most attractive. Startups that managed to grow in 2025 while improving key metrics (EBITDA, LTV/CAC, unit economics) are now in high demand among investors. In 2026, this trend is expected to intensify: investors want to see how companies are not just "burning" capital but are rationally building their business processes. For example, in many hot segments (AI, SaaS, fintech), the race to capture market share at any cost has ended — instead, the winners are those who can retain customers and generate stable cash flow. Even among AI startups, where competition is particularly fierce, investors are beginning to favor teams offering narrowly specialized solutions or proprietary technologies that are difficult to replicate.
Thus, the global startup market enters 2026 at a new stage of maturity. Big money hasn't disappeared — there's still plenty of it, ready to support breakthrough innovations across a variety of industries. However, capital has become "smarter": it is concentrating with the largest funds, favoring the best of the best, and demanding returns. For venture investors and funds, this means the necessity to keep a pulse on new trends (whether they are generative AI, defense, or climate technologies) while being prepared for more thorough engagements with portfolio companies. For startup founders, the successful strategy for the coming year will be balancing audacious innovation with strict operational calculations. It is this combination of bright ideas and business discipline that will help attract investors and transform startups into resilient, growing businesses on the global stage.
