The US venture capital (VC) landscape witnessed a strikingly divergent performance in the first five months of 2026, as investors executed slightly fewer transactions but deployed substantially more capital than in the same period a year earlier. The total number of VC deals announced in the US fell slightly by around 2% year-on-year (YoY) during January-May 2026, while funding value jumped by more than a threefold, according to GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “This divergence underscores a continued shift toward larger rounds and select mega-deals, reinforcing the US as the clear epicenter of global VC value creation even amid a marginal cooling in dealmaking activity. It is also worth mentioning that majority of the value growth was driven by big investments secured by a few AI startups.”

Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in the US during January-May 2026 include $122 billion secured by OpenAI, $65 billion and $30 billion raised by Anthropic in two separate funding rounds, and $20 billion raised by xAI, among others.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that, despite the dip in the number of deals, the country maintained its top position, accounting for around 30% of the total number of VC deals announced globally during January-May 2026. Meanwhile, the steep expansion in value propelled the US to an overwhelming 81% share of global VC funding value, highlighting the country’s outsized role in shaping global capital allocation trends.

Bose adds: “The wide gap between value and volume shares points to a market characterized by larger average ticket sizes and a capital concentration in high-conviction opportunities.”

Comparison with key markets shows the US outpacing rivals on value by a wide margin. China, the second biggest market after the US, recorded a robust rebound, with deal volume rising by about 41% YoY and deal value increasing by roughly 220% YoY, lifting its global shares to 23% of deal volume and 7% of deal value. While this reflects renewed momentum, China’s value share remains a fraction of the US.

The UK captured 7% of global deal volume and 3% of global value, whereas India accounted for 8% of global deal volume but just 1% of global value. Relative to the US, these countries’ VC activity suggests more cautious investor sentiment and fewer large-scale financings during the period.

Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain.