Funding for corporate-backed rounds leapt 370% in the first quarter of 2026 as OpenAI headlined a range of multibillion-dollar deals.
The start of 2026 has seen corporate venture capital flow with great conviction into a relatively narrow set of AI-based technologies, taking the amount of dollars raised in corporate-backed funding rounds to the highest level recorded by GCV in a single quarter.
The quarter saw $254bn in total funding raised across 1,388 rounds – up from $54bn recorded in Q1 2025, marking a year-on-year leap of 370%.
