Global Startup and Venture Capital News for Sunday, February 1, 2026: Major Funding Rounds, Venture Fund Activity, Key Technology Trends, and Investment Priorities.
The start of 2026 continues to reflect a revitalization in the global startup and venture capital market. Following the downturn of 2022–2023 and the upward trend in 2025, significant investors worldwide are once again actively financing promising tech companies. Record-breaking venture funding deals are being finalized, and plans for startups to go public have returned to the forefront. Major players are re-entering the scene with substantial investments, while governments and corporations are enhancing support for innovation—significant private capital is again flowing into startup ecosystems.
Venture activity is rising across all regions. The U.S. continues to lead (especially due to a surge in investments in artificial intelligence), the Middle East has seen its startup investment volume double within a year, fueled by billions from sovereign funds, and there has been a shift in Europe: Germany has overtaken the U.K. for the first time in venture deals. India, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf countries are attracting record volumes of capital, while investor activity in China has declined somewhat. The startup ecosystems in Russia and neighboring countries are striving to keep pace with global trends despite external constraints. As a result, a new venture upsurge is forming on the global stage, although investors remain selective and cautious in their deal-making.
Below is an overview of key events and trends shaping the venture market as of February 1, 2026:
- Return of Mega Funds and Large Investors. Leading venture firms are raising record-sized funds and sharply increasing investments, saturating the market with capital and reigniting risk appetite.
- Record Rounds in AI and a New Wave of Unicorns. Exceptionally large investment deals are pushing startup valuations to unprecedented heights, particularly in the AI segment, resulting in a plethora of new unicorn companies.
- Revival of the IPO Market. Successful public offerings by tech companies and new listing applications signal that the long-awaited "window" for public placements is once again open.
- Diversification of Sector Focus. Venture capital is flowing not just into AI but also into fintech, climate projects, biotechnology, defense, crypto startups, and other promising areas.
- Wave of Consolidation and M&A Deals. Major mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments are reshaping the industry landscape, creating new opportunities for exits and accelerated startup growth.
- Local Focus: Russia and the CIS. Despite limitations, new funds and initiatives are being launched in the region to support local startup ecosystems, attracting investor interest.
Mega Funds Are Back: Big Money Re-enters the Market
The venture market is being triumphantly reinvigorated by the largest investment players, signaling a renewed appetite for risk. Over the past weeks, several top funds have announced record capital raises: the American firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) closed new funds at ~$15 billion (unprecedented in the industry), Lightspeed raised approximately $9 billion, and Tiger Global has returned with a fund of $2.2 billion. Sovereign funds from the Gulf region have also ramped up, injecting billions of dollars into technology projects and launching mega ecosystem development initiatives. Japan’s SoftBank, having recovered from previous setbacks, invested around $40 billion in OpenAI, once again making a significant bet on AI. As a result, venture funds now hold hundreds of billions of dollars in "dry powder," which fills the startup market with liquidity and supports the growth of promising companies' valuations. The return of mega funds and large institutional investors intensifies competition for the best deals while simultaneously instilling confidence in further capital inflows.
AI Investment Boom: Record Deals and New Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector remains the primary driver of the current venture upturn. Investors are eager to position themselves at the forefront of the AI revolution and are willing to finance colossal rounds. Already in the first weeks of 2026, unprecedented deals have been recorded even at early stages: for instance, the startup lab Humans& (USA), founded by leading specialists from Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, secured about $480 million in seed funding—a record amount for a seed round. Another example is the project Ricursive Intelligence (USA), aimed at breakthrough AI, which received $300 million in a Series A round at a valuation of ~$4 billion. Additionally, the new startup Merge Labs, founded by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman to develop brain-computer interfaces, reportedly received around $252 million in initial funding. Consequently, the club of unicorns is rapidly expanding: just in recent months, dozens of startups have surpassed the $1 billion valuation threshold, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence and defense technologies.
IPO Market Revives: Window for Exits Opens Again
The situation in the U.S. and Europe has also improved: following the first successful listings in 2025, more unicorns are entering the public market. American fintech giant Chime made its debut on Nasdaq, its stock rising approximately 40% on the first day, boosting investor confidence.
Now, the potentially largest offering in history is on the horizon: Elon Musk's space company SpaceX plans an IPO in mid-2026, aiming to raise up to $50 billion at a valuation of approximately $1.5 trillion (nearly double the record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019). IPOs of such giants as OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe, and Databricks are also among the most anticipated—these exits could energize the market and capture wide attention. The resurgence of IPO activity is critically important for the venture ecosystem: successful public exits return capital to investors, allowing them to redirect it into new projects.
Diversification of Investments: Fintech, Climate Projects, Biotech, and Beyond
In 2026, venture investments are covering an increasingly broad range of industries, reducing the market's dependence on a single trend. Following the explosive growth of AI investments, investor attention is again shifting toward other segments:
- Fintech: recovery of activity and large rounds in financial technology startups globally (from the U.S. and Europe to emerging markets).
- Climate Technologies: record investments in "green" energy, agritech, and other eco-tech projects amid a global focus on sustainable development.
- Biotech and Health: new capital inflows into biotechnology, medical startups, and digital health following scientific breakthroughs and a return of investor confidence in the sector.
- Defense and Aerospace Developments: increased financing for startups in national security, defense, aerospace, and cybersecurity.
- Crypto Startups: a gradual return of interest in blockchain projects and cryptocurrency services as the digital asset market stabilizes.
Thus, venture capital in 2026 is being distributed across multiple niches, with funds seeking growth opportunities beyond just AI. The expansion of sector focus means more opportunities for startups of all kinds, from finance and energy to medicine and defense.
Market Consolidation: Major M&A Deals Reshape the Landscape
High startup valuations and intense competition for technological leadership are leading to a wave of consolidation. Major corporations and mature unicorns are increasingly acquiring promising teams or merging to accelerate growth and gain critical technologies. Multi-billion-dollar deals are already occurring: for instance, Apple is acquiring the Israeli AI startup Q.ai for approximately $1.6 billion (one of Apple's largest purchases in recent times), Google is acquiring the cybersecurity platform Wiz for a record $32 billion, and Capital One is acquiring the fintech platform Brex for $5.15 billion. These acquisitions and mergers are reshaping the industry landscape, allowing high-growth companies to scale under the wings of technological giants and providing venture investors with opportunities for much-awaited exits.
Russia and the CIS: Local Initiatives Amid Global Trends
Despite external constraints, the startup environment in Russia and the CIS is also demonstrating revitalization, following global trends. New venture funds totaling around 10–12 billion rubles, aimed at supporting early-stage technology projects, have been announced in the region. Local startups are beginning to attract more substantial capital: for instance, the Krasnodar-based foodtech service Qummy secured about 440 million rubles, and the company Motorica (developing advanced rehabilitation tools) attracted over 800 million rubles from a private investor. Furthermore, authorities have allowed foreign investors to resume investments in Russian startups, gradually restoring interest from abroad. While venture investment volumes in the region remain modest compared to global figures, they are steadily growing. A number of major tech companies are considering bringing their divisions to the public market as conditions improve—for example, VK Tech has publicly indicated the possibility of an IPO in the near future. New government support measures and corporate initiatives aim to provide additional momentum to the local startup ecosystem and integrate it into global trends.
Looking Ahead: Cautious Optimism Among Investors
Such a powerful start to the year is fostering moderately optimistic sentiment in the venture industry. On one hand, record rounds and the emergence of new funds provide startups with access to capital, while successful IPOs confirm that the downturn period is behind us. On the other hand, investors are still carefully selecting projects and tightening oversight of portfolio companies, aiming to prevent a new surge from turning into overheating.
Importantly, the volume of accessible capital remains high: global venture funds possess "dry powder" amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars ready for investment. These reserves are capable of sustaining innovation financing rates even amidst changing macroeconomic conditions, intensifying competition for the best deals.
Certainly, risks remain: rising interest rates, geopolitical instability, and stock market volatility may dampen risk appetite. Nevertheless, the startup ecosystem enters 2026 with resilience and cautious optimism. Venture investors and founders hope that in the coming months, the market will continue to grow—provided that project valuations are reasonable and external conditions are favorable.
