Global venture investment reached a record $189 billion in February, the largest startup funding month on record, according to Crunchbase. This was largely due to the largest round ever raised by a private, venture-backed company, OpenAI, which raised $110 billion, and Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving division, raising $16 billion. These three rounds accounted for 83% of the global venture capital raised in February. Despite this, venture investment increased by 780% year over year from $21.5 billion in 2025. U.S.-based startups raised $174 billion last month, accounting for 92% of global venture funding. However, public market volatility and uncertainty have stalled new offerings again, leading to two listings being withdrawn.