AI Boom Sparks Investor Frenzy for Robotics Startups

In 2024, 34% of all U.S. venture funding — a staggering $61B — went to rounds of $500M+ for companies that are already well-established. Think Databricks, OpenAI, Waymo, and Epic Games, all of which collectively raised nearly $24B last year.

And it’s not just the mega-rounds: 37% of all #startup funding went to companies 9+ years old, the largest share in at least 5 years.

Why? Because exits are slow. With a sluggish IPO market and fewer big M&A deals, latestage companies are staying private longer. Investors are opting to fund expansion and employee liquidity rather than push for public listings.

So far, 2025 has been quiet on the megaround front, but if the IPO market doesn’t heat up, we can likely expect to see another wave of super-sized private financings.

Be sure to check out this Crunchbase article for more — https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/senior-startups-500m-funding-rounds-ai-av-databricks/