AI was the leading sector for startup funding globally from 2023 through 2025. In each year, funding amounts to this sector have gone up dramatically and proportions have increased.

At the close of 2025, OpenAI is the most valuable private company of all time, valued at $500 billion. Not far down the list is rival Anthropic, the fourth-most valuable at $183 billion. Together, those two companies alone make up close to 10% of the value on The Crunchbase Unicorn Board. READ MORE