With the year nearly complete, 2025 has already matched 2024 in terms of AI startups raising rounds of $100 million or larger. According to TechCrunch data, 49 U.S. AI startups have hit this threshold.
Notable Recent Raises
Majestic Labs ($100M): Founded by former chip executives from Meta and Google, they're building high-memory AI servers.
Valar Atomics ($130M): A nuclear technology startup developing next-generation reactor "gigasites," backed by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.
Parallel ($100M): Building web infrastructure specifically for AI agents—the plumbing that lets agents interact with websites.
The Investor Thesis Evolves
What's driving these mega-rounds? The thesis has shifted:
- Infrastructure over applications: The picks-and-shovels approach is back
- Enterprise over consumer: B2B AI has clearer ROI
- Vertical over horizontal: Specialized solutions win specific markets
- Production over research: Investors want deployed products, not papers
What This Means
For founders: If you're building in AI, the bar has never been higher—but neither has the ceiling. Show production deployments and customer metrics, and capital is available at scale.
For enterprises: The AI startup ecosystem is well-funded and building rapidly. The tools you need are likely either available now or arriving soon.