Top US AI Startups Raising $100M+ in 2025
The AI Funding Boom Continues
The artificial intelligence (AI) industry in the United States continues to experience unprecedented growth, building on the momentum of a record-breaking 2024, where 49 startups secured funding rounds of $100 million or more. In 2025, the first half of the year alone has seen 24 U.S.-based AI startups raise at least $100 million each, with several achieving billion-dollar valuations. This surge reflects robust investor confidence in AI’s transformative potential across sectors like healthcare, legal tech, defense, and infrastructure. In this blog post, we explore these 24 trailblazing startups, their innovations, and the implications of their funding success.
Why 2025 Is a Landmark Year for AI Investment
The AI sector’s momentum in 2025 follows a monumental 2024, where seven companies raised rounds exceeding $1 billion. This year, the pace has accelerated, with multiple billion-dollar rounds already closed in Q1 2025, outpacing the same period in 2024. The diversity of applications—from generative AI and large language models to defense tech and drug discovery—underscores AI’s broad impact. Investors, including major players like Nvidia, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz, are betting heavily on startups that promise to redefine industries through AI innovation.
The 24 U.S. AI Startups Raising $100M+ in 2025
Below is a detailed list of the 24 U.S.-based AI startups that have raised $100 million or more in 2025, organized by the month their funding was announced. Each entry includes the company’s focus, funding details, valuation, and key investors.
AI Funding Table (2025)
| Company | Focus | Funding Round | Amount | Valuation | Key Investors | Announcement Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glean | Enterprise search | Series F | $150M | $7.25B | Wellington, Sequoia, Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins | June 10, 2025 |
| Anysphere | AI coding (Cursor) | Series C | $900M | $10B | Thrive, a16z, Accel, DST | June 2025 |
| Snorkel AI | AI data labeling | Series D | $100M | $1.3B | Addition, Prosperity7, Lightspeed, Greylock | May 29, 2025 |
| LMArena | AI model benchmarking | Seed | $100M | $600M | a16z, UC Investments, Lightspeed, Kleiner, Felicis | May 21, 2025 |
| TensorWave | AI infrastructure | Series A | $100M | Not disclosed | Magnetar, AMD, Prosperity7, Nexus, Maverick Silicon | May 14, 2025 |
| SandboxAQ | AI models | Series E | $450M | $5.7B | Nvidia, Google, Ray Dalio | April 4, 2025 |
| Runway | AI for media production | Series D | $308M | $3B | General Atlantic, SoftBank, Nvidia, Fidelity | April 3, 2025 |
| OpenAI | AI research & LLMs | Venture Round | $40B | $300B | SoftBank, Thrive, Microsoft, Coatue | March 31, 2025 |
| Nexthop AI | AI infrastructure | Series A | $110M | Not disclosed | Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins, Battery, Emergent | March 25, 2025 |
| Insilico Medicine | AI drug discovery | Series E | $110M | $1B | Value Partners, Pudong Chuangtou | March 13, 2025 |
| Celestial AI | AI infrastructure | Series C | $250M | $2.5B | Fidelity, Tiger Global, BlackRock, Lip-Bu Tan | March 11, 2025 |
| Lila Sciences | Science superintelligence | Seed | $200M | Not disclosed | Flagship, March Capital, General Catalyst, ARK | March 2025 |
| Reflection.Ai | Superintelligent systems | Series A | $130M | $580M | Lightspeed, CRV | March 2025 |
| Turing | AI coding | Series E | $111M | $2.2B | Khazanah, WestBridge, Gaingels, Sozo | March 7, 2025 |
| Shield AI | AI defense tech | Series F | $240M | $5.3B | L3Harris, Hanwha, a16z, US Tech Fund | March 6, 2025 |
| Anthropic | AI research & LLMs | Series E | $3.5B | $61.5B | Lightspeed, Salesforce, Menlo, General Catalyst | March 3, 2025 |
| Together AI | Open-source generative AI | Series B | $305M | $3.3B | Prosperity7, Salesforce, Nvidia, Lux | Feb 20, 2025 |
| Lambda | AI infrastructure | Series D | $480M | $2.5B | SGW, Andra, Nvidia, G Squared, ARK | Feb 19, 2025 |
| Abridge | AI medical transcription | Series D | $250M | $2.75B | IVP, Elad Gil, Lightspeed, Spark | Feb 17, 2025 |
| Eudia | AI legal tech | Series A | $105M | Not disclosed | General Catalyst, Floodgate, Defy, Everywhere | Feb 13, 2025 |
| EnCharge AI | AI hardware | Series B | $100M | Not disclosed | Tiger Global, Scout, Samsung, RTX | Feb 13, 2025 |
| Harvey | AI legal tech | Series D | $300M | $3B | Sequoia, OpenAI Fund, Kleiner, Elad Gil | Feb 12, 2025 |
| ElevenLabs | Synthetic voice AI | Series C | $180M | $3B+ | ICONIQ, a16z, Sequoia, NEA, Salesforce | Jan 30, 2025 |
| Hippocratic AI | AI for healthcare | Series B | $141M | $1.6B+ | Kleiner, a16z, Nvidia, General Catalyst | Jan 9, 2025 |
Key Trends in AI Funding for 2025
The 2025 funding landscape highlights several trends shaping the AI industry:
- Diverse Applications: Startups span a wide range of sectors, including legal tech (Harvey, Eudia), healthcare (Hippocratic AI, Abridge, Insilico Medicine), defense (Shield AI), and media production (Runway), showcasing AI’s versatility.
- Billion-Dollar Valuations: Eleven of the 24 startups have valuations exceeding $1 billion, with OpenAI ($300B) and Anthropic ($61.5B) leading the pack, reflecting the high stakes in AI innovation.
- Major Investor Involvement: Prominent investors like Nvidia, Sequoia, and Andreessen Horowitz appear frequently, signaling strong backing from tech giants and venture capital heavyweights.
- Infrastructure and Foundation Models: Companies like Lambda, Celestial AI, and TensorWave focus on AI infrastructure, while OpenAI and Anthropic advance large language models, indicating a dual focus on enabling technologies and end-user applications.
Implications for the AI Industry
The influx of capital into these startups underscores the growing belief in AI’s potential to transform industries. The $40 billion round for OpenAI, the largest venture capital raise in history, sets a new benchmark for the sector, while Anthropic’s $3.5 billion round highlights the race to develop safe and scalable AI models. The diversity of applications—from autonomous systems (Reflection.Ai, Shield AI) to drug discovery (Insilico Medicine)—suggests that AI is poised to address complex challenges across domains.
However, the concentration of funding in a few mega-rounds raises questions about market consolidation and the sustainability of such high valuations. As competition intensifies, startups will need to differentiate themselves through innovation, scalability, and practical applications to justify investor confidence.
Looking Ahead
As 2025 progresses, the AI startup ecosystem is likely to see further growth, with new players emerging and existing ones scaling rapidly. The focus on infrastructure, healthcare, and defense suggests that AI will continue to reshape critical sectors. Investors and industry observers will be watching closely to see if the momentum from Q1 and Q2 sustains through the year, potentially surpassing 2024’s record of 49 mega-rounds.
Stay tuned for updates on these startups and their impact on the global AI landscape. For more insights into the latest tech trends, subscribe to our blog!
Source – TechCrunch
