Perplexity Hits $450M ARR After Agents Pivot
Perplexity's annual recurring revenue crossed $450M in March after a 50% single-month jump driven by its Computer agent platform - not search.
Venture capital
Eclipse Raises $1.3B to Back and Build Physical AI
Eclipse Ventures closed two funds totaling $1.3B to build and back physical AI companies in robotics, defense, and manufacturing as investor conviction shifts from software to machines.
Anthropic Pays $400M for AI Drug Discovery Startup
Anthropic acquires Coefficient Bio, an eight-month-old stealth startup with fewer than ten employees, in a $400M all-stock deal to push into pharmaceutical AI.
AI Claims 80% of Record $300B VC Quarter
Q1 2026 set an all-time venture capital record with $300 billion invested globally, and AI startups captured $242 billion of it - four mega-rounds alone accounted for 64% of every dollar deployed.
OpenAI's $122B Round Adds Retail Access Before IPO
OpenAI closed its funding round at $122 billion and $852 billion valuation on March 31, with $3 billion going to retail investors via banks for the first time.
Starcloud Raises $170M to Put AI Compute in Orbit
The 15-person startup that launched an H100 GPU into space last November just became the fastest Y Combinator company ever to reach unicorn status.
Physical AI's Money Moment - $11B and Counting
Physical Intelligence is in talks to raise $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation, doubling in four months, as investors pour capital into AI software designed to run robots in the real world.
Shield AI Raises $2B at $12.7B in Defense AI Bet
Shield AI closed a $2B raise at a $12.7B valuation, more than doubling from $5.3B a year ago, to fund its Hivemind autonomous pilot software and acquire Pentagon simulation vendor Aechelon Technology.
Kleiner Perkins Goes All-In on AI With $3.5B Raise
Kleiner Perkins closes a $3.5B dual fund - its largest raise in the current era - betting on Anthropic, Harvey, and a 2026 IPO window.
Legal AI Startup Legora Raises $550M, Hits $5.55B
Swedish legal AI platform Legora closes a $550M Series D led by Accel, tripling its valuation to $5.55B in five months on the back of rapid US expansion.
Three AI Giants Ate 83% of February's $189B VC
Crunchbase data shows February 2026 was the biggest startup funding month in history, with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Waymo absorbing $156 billion of a record $189 billion total.
AI Now Swallows 61% of All Venture Capital - OECD Report Shows a Market Devouring Itself
An OECD report reveals AI firms captured 61% of global venture capital in 2025 at $258.7 billion, doubling their share since 2022, while mega-deals above $1 billion account for half of all investment value.
