AI funding frenzy continues as startups raise billions and unicorns multiply
AI funding frenzy continues as startups raise billions and unicorns multiply
Venture capital pours into AI companies across chips, agents, and infrastructure, with startups reporting record-fast revenue growth and nearly 90 new unicorns minted in 2026.
- Oratomic raised $300 million to build a quantum computer using 10,000 to 20,000 qubits; CEO Dolev Bluvstein said the company has demonstrated all core components at smaller scale.
- SambaNova raised $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation and named JPMorganChase as an inference-infrastructure partner; CEO Rodrigo Liang said banks want heterogeneous infrastructure.
- Mercor passed $2 billion in annualized revenue run rate and is in talks for a $20 billion valuation, founder Brendan Foody announced.
- Nearly 90 venture-backed startups reached unicorn status in 2026, the majority focused on AI, according to Crunchbase and PitchBook data.
Coverage
20 outlets — read the original reporting
Reed Jobs would rather talk about curing cancer than his last name | TechCrunch
Oratomic raises $300M to build a viable quantum computer that needs only 20K qubits | TechCrunch
Hugging Face's CEO on why companies are done renting their AI | TechCrunch
Elon Musk praises Mythos/Fable, promises not to 'cut off' Anthropic | TechCrunch
Meta enters the crowded AI coding battle with Muse Spark 1.1 | TechCrunch
Mercor is in talks for a $20B valuation | TechCrunch
Paris-based AI voice startup Gradium raises $100M seed, backed by Nvidia | TechCrunch
Nandan Nilekani leaves GP role at Fundamentum as it launches $200M third fund | TechCrunch
Lovable reportedly in talks to double its valuation to $13.2B | TechCrunch
With EU backing, QuantumDiamonds aims to speed up chip manufacturing | TechCrunch
Crypto VC firm Paradigm raises $1.2B to invest in 'technical frontier' startups | TechCrunch
Prime Intellect raises $130M Series A to help enterprises build their own AI agents | TechCrunch
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