Startup and Venture Investment News as of January 1, 2026: Record Rounds in AI, Venture Fund Activity, Key Deals, and Global Investment Trends for Venture Investors.
Global Records in AI Startup Funding
The year 2025 was a record-breaking one for AI startup funding: industry analysts estimate that leading American AI companies attracted approximately $150 billion in venture capital, significantly surpassing the previous record of $92 billion set in 2021. This growth can be attributed to the burgeoning interest of investors in AI solutions. Experts recommend that startups establish financial "safety cushions" in anticipation of a potential downturn in activity in the upcoming year.
- SoftBank has increased its total investment in OpenAI to $41 billion, directing the remaining $22.5 billion at the end of the year. The Japanese corporation now holds about 11% of the American startup's shares.
- Anthropic, a leader in AI model development, secured $13 billion in September 2025.
- Scale AI, a data preparation startup for neural network training, received over $14 billion in investment from Meta, which encompasses not only funding but also the transition of some qualified specialists to the project.
- Other promising AI projects (such as Anysphere with the Cursor application, Perplexity, Thinking Machines Lab, etc.) have also repeatedly attracted capital. For instance, Anysphere increased its valuation from $2.6 billion to $27 billion, while its revenue grew twenty-fold over the year.
These transactions reflect a trend: amidst the continued excitement surrounding AI solutions, startups are striving to accumulate maximum resources on their balance sheets, a move supported by the strategies of major venture players.
Major Venture Deals
The last weeks of 2025 brought several of the largest transactions in the global venture market, further solidifying the leading role of AI and related technologies.
- SoftBank completed its promised investment in OpenAI, officially allocating an additional $22.5 billion, bringing the total investment to $41 billion.
- Nvidia is investing $2 billion in Elon Musk's startup xAI, which will be spent on acquiring graphics chips for the Colossus 2 data center in Tennessee; xAI aims to secure approximately $20 billion in funding.
- Nvidia has entered into a strategic agreement with startup Groq (AI chips) for $20 billion, gaining licenses for all Groq technologies (excluding the GroqCloud platform) and key assets, while the founder of Groq and part of the team will transition to Nvidia.
- Other major investors, including Apollo Global Management and Diameter Capital funds, are also participating in the financing of xAI.
- Mexican fintech startup Plata (founded by former managers of Tinkoff) raised $250 million in investments, increasing its valuation to $3.1 billion. The project issues cashback credit cards and already serves over 2 million customers.
These deals underscore the fact that the largest capital continues to consolidate among leaders in the tech sector, particularly for companies associated with artificial intelligence.
New Funds and Government Support
Government bodies and leading funds have announced major initiatives to support tech startups:
- China has launched a national venture fund (¥100 billion, approximately $14.3 billion) and three major regional funds (each over ¥50 billion). These funds are aimed at supporting domestic tech startups, primarily those with a capitalization of up to ¥500 million.
- Additionally, China has established three specialized funds of $7.14 billion each for investments in "hardware" technologies, ranging from chips and quantum computing to biotechnology and aerospace developments.
- Nikolai and Marina Davydov have launched a new $75 million fund for early-stage AI startups (Davidovs Venture Collective), with $40 million already raised from private sources.
- Russian company Yandex announced a support program for small and medium enterprises worth 500 million rubles, offering a tripling of advertising budgets on its platforms (Yandex.Direct, etc.) and preferential terms for startups and SMEs.
Such initiatives indicate that major investors and governments are actively influencing the development of the tech ecosystem by directing capital towards priority sectors.
Breakthrough Startups and Unicorns
Against the backdrop of increased capital flow, several new projects have made significant advancements:
- The recruiting platform Mercor (founded by Brendan Fudi and others) has become a "unicorn" with a valuation in the tens of billions of dollars: its founders have joined the ranks of new billionaires.
- Chinese company DeepSeek (an AI-based search engine, founded by Liang Wenfeng) has also emerged as a notable unicorn with a valuation of about $11.5 billion.
- Fintech and SaaS continue to lead the market. Revolut (Nikolai Storonsky) is expanding its business through acquisitions (having acquired the startup Swifty in the fall of 2025), while Plata has become a major new player in credit services.
- Overall, many of the largest tech startups, particularly those related to AI and automation, are attaining unicorn status and setting the market tone.
This confirms that the greatest potential for large-scale growth today can be seen in IT startups, especially in the fintech, SaaS, and artificial intelligence sectors. These sectors are generating new successful cases and creating substantial fortunes for their founders.
Venture Market Trends
- According to Forbes, investments in AI startups in 2025 surpassed $202 billion (an increase of ~75% compared to 2024), outpacing all other sectors.
- AI breakthroughs have led to the emergence of about 50 new billionaires in 2025. Elon Musk's capital increased by almost 1.5 times — to $645 billion, while Jensen Huang's (Nvidia) wealth grew to $159 billion; the founders of Google and Amazon have also significantly increased their fortunes.
- Venture investors point to a record concentration of capital: the majority of funds were directed toward a few large projects, while for many "secondary" startups, funding has nearly been depleted.
- Analysts recommend that startups build a "fortified" balance sheet: that is, accumulate reserves and focus on long-term development, considering a potential market correction.
- The Russian startup market is moving in the opposite direction: according to "Kommersant," the number of deals has decreased by 30%, and investment volumes have fallen by 10% (to approximately 7.2 billion rubles).
Together, these factors indicate a market division: global capital is concentrating in "hot" sectors (AI and digital services), while activity in traditional industries remains low.
Outlook for 2026
The beginning of 2026 opens a new chapter: experts note that market growth may slow down, so investors and startup founders should exercise "cautious optimism" and select projects with sustainable business models.
Greetings from Open Oil Market
The company Open Oil Market congratulates all readers on the arrival of the New Year 2026! May it bring forth new successful startup ideas, large-scale investment projects, and stable growth for innovative companies.
