Global venture capital markets delivered their second-highest quarterly total on record in Q2 2026, reaching $227.4 billion, fueled by mega-deals in artificial intelligence. U.S. AI company Anthropic led the charge with the largest single fundraising round in history at $65.3 billion, while Project Prometheus and China's DeepSeek raised $12 billion and $7.4 billion respectively. The Americas dominated with $150 billion in investment, while Asia posted its best performance since late 2021 at $50.8 billion. Corporate venture capital participation surged to $149.1 billion, underscoring major corporations' aggressive AI positioning. On the exit front, SpaceX's merger with xAI and subsequent Nasdaq IPO—the largest in history—raised $75 billion, propelling global exit values to a record $1.9 trillion. Defense and space technology also gained prominence, with Anduril and ICEYE completing substantial funding rounds. Looking ahead to Q3, AI investment is expected to expand from model development into industrial applications including robotics and embodied intelligence. READ MORE