The State of Venture - May 2026
This report was written by our AI Agents using OpenAi Codex as orchestrator. It was human guided, and post-production edited.More Capital, Fewer Rounds
May 2026 recorded $22.2B across 482 disclosed rounds. The top 10 rounds captured 54.0% of capital, led by Anduril Industries at $5.0B.
Monthly Thesis
May was not a simple slowdown. It was a narrower market with larger year-over-year capital, fewer disclosed rounds, and a heavy concentration of dollars in the largest financings. Capital was +27.4% versus May 2025, but round count was -52.1%.
Three facts define the month: first, the top 10 rounds absorbed 54.0% of all disclosed capital; second, Series B carried the most capital while Seed carried the most deal count; third, the Series B qualifier rate was 11.3%, which keeps the quality read separate from raw volume.
The month was active but selective. Stage percentiles mattered more than headline dollars, quality remained concentrated in the strongest stages, and breadth was still the constraint.
What Happened in May
Round count was -46.5% versus the prior-two-month average, while capital was -37.4%. The median disclosed round was $8.0M, far below the average round of $46.0M, which shows how much the largest financings pulled up the month.
What Changed From April
Compared with April 2026, capital was -41.9% and round count was -34.3%. Compared with May 2025, capital was +27.4% and round count was -52.1%.
The comparison table shows the core tension: capital was higher than a year earlier even as disclosed round count fell sharply.
The Top 10 Rounds Drove the Month
The top 10 rounds represented 54.0% of disclosed capital. The outlier-adjusted view shows how much market activity remains after excluding the top 1, top 3, and top 10 rounds.
After the top 10 rounds, the month looks more concentrated than broad-based.
For Founders
For founders, stage percentiles matter more than headline capital. Seed had the most rounds, with a median round of $3.5M and a 75th percentile round of $8.5M. A credible plan for this market shows how the round clears the stage median, why the company belongs above the 75th percentile, or why a smaller round is the better strategic choice.
For Investors
For investors, concentration and quality moved together. Series B led capital with $5.7B, while Series C had the strongest average investor-quality signal. The open question is not whether dollars came back, but whether high-quality investors are widening participation across stages or staying clustered.
For LPs
For LPs and public-market readers, headline capital overstates market breadth. The month had more capital than the same month last year, but far fewer rounds, so the signal is selective financing rather than a broad reopening. Ex-top-10 capital and qualifier rate carry the cleaner signal.
Which Stages Led
Stage health shows where activity was broad and where capital was concentrated. Series B led capital, Seed led round count, and Series C led the investor-quality read. Those are different signals, so no single stage summarizes the market.
Early, Venture, and Growth
The aggregate market hides three different jobs: early-stage company formation, venture-stage breakout filtering, and growth-stage capacity. Early-stage rounds totaled 371, Venture - Series B totaled 53, and growth totaled 36. Series B carried the most disclosed capital at $5.7B. Top-five share means the share of segment capital captured by its five largest rounds.
Capital and breadth moved differently enough that each segment needs its own view.
Early Stage - Pre-Seed to Series A
Venture - Series B
Growth - Series C to E
Round Sizes by Stage
Round-size percentiles show what typical, strong, and outlier financings looked like by stage. The median is the practical founder benchmark, the 75th percentile is the strong-round benchmark, and the 90th percentile identifies rounds that can distort market perception.
How to read this table: P25 means one quarter of rounds were smaller, median means half were smaller, P75 marks the upper quartile, and P90 is the outlier boundary. Stages are ordered by median round size so a new reader can move from early-stage norms to later-stage norms.
Stage-by-Stage Pricing
The pricing question is whether a round is typical for its stage, or whether the market is being pulled upward by the top quartile. Each stage view separates the median from the 75th and 95th percentiles, showing where typical pricing ends and outlier pricing begins.
Pre-Seed Monthly Raise Percentiles
Pre-Seed narrowed sharply: 65 companies raised, with a $1.3M median and $2.1M 75th percentile. Median pricing increased +44.6% from the prior three-month average, while company count declined -64.7%. The 95th percentile was 4.3 times the median, a clear outlier gap.
Seed Monthly Raise Percentiles
Seed remained the broadest market with 180 companies, but breadth was still down -42.9% from the recent average. The median was $3.5M and the 75th percentile was $8.5M; median pricing increased +7.1%. A 4.6x 95th-to-median spread shows a large separation between typical seed rounds and the top of the market.
Series A Monthly Raise Percentiles
Series A showed stronger pricing with weaker volume. The stage had 106 companies, a $17.0M median, and a $27.5M 75th percentile. Median pricing increased +8.5% against the prior three-month average, while company count declined -43.1%. The 95th percentile was 4.4 times the median.
Series B Monthly Raise Percentiles
Series B was the clearest quality-over-volume stage. The median round reached $40.0M, the 75th percentile reached $100.0M, and only 53 companies raised. Median pricing increased +31.9% from the recent baseline, while company count declined -38.6%. The 95th percentile was 6.4 times the median.
Series C Monthly Raise Percentiles
Series C looked flat on price and weak on breadth. The stage had 22 companies, a $60.0M median, and a $100.0M 75th percentile. Median pricing was roughly flat -2.7%, but company count declined -40.0%. The 95th percentile was 4.1 times the median.
Series D Monthly Raise Percentiles
Series D weakened on price. The median fell to $41.0M across 11 companies, while the 75th percentile held at $135.0M. Median pricing declined -60.7% from the prior three-month average, and company count declined -19.5%. The 95th percentile was 5.1 times the median.
Series E Monthly Raise Percentiles
Series E was small but large-round driven: 3 companies, a $300.0M median, and a $625.0M 75th percentile. Median pricing increased +87.8%, while company count declined -55.0%. The 95th percentile was 2.9 times the median, so the stage was large but thin.
Science and Engineering Led Sector Capital
Science and Engineering was the largest disclosed sector group, with $15.6B across 186 rounds. The sector story was not only about one large financing: capital and round count both pointed to the same category.
Software, Science and Engineering, and Health Care Led Different Stage Bands
Software led early-stage activity with 160 rounds. Science and Engineering led Series B with 33 rounds. Health Care led growth with 12 rounds. May’s sector mix split early company formation from later-stage capital demand.
The stage split matters because the leading early market was not the same as the leading growth market.
Early Stage - Pre-Seed to Series A
Venture - Series B
Growth - Series C to E
San Francisco Had the Most Visible Activity
San Francisco had 39 disclosed rounds with an average round of $72.4M. That made it the most visible geography by activity, not just by the size of a single financing.
San Francisco Led Every Stage Band
Early was led by San Francisco, Series B by San Francisco, and growth by San Francisco. San Francisco led all three, so May’s visible market was geographically concentrated across the maturity curve.
The tables keep round count visible next to dollars, which is why repeat activity matters here.
Early Stage - Pre-Seed to Series A
Venture - Series B
Growth - Series C to E
Y Combinator, Founders Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz Stayed Active
Y Combinator appeared in 10 early-stage rounds. Founders Fund led Series B with 5 rounds. Andreessen Horowitz led growth with 5 rounds. Those firms stayed visible even as overall round count weakened.
Early Stage - Pre-Seed to Series A
Venture - Series B
Growth - Series C to E
Series C Had the Strongest Investor-Quality Signal
Series C had the strongest average investor-quality signal, with 28 high-score investor appearances.
11.3% of Series B Rounds Met the Quality Bar
6 Series B companies qualified from 53 Series B rounds. This is an aggregate market-quality measure, not investment advice.
SignalRank disclosed B activity is shown separately from public investor-history appearances. By purchase date, SignalRank had 2 disclosed B investments in May 2026. The all-time portfolio count in this dataset is 56 investments. These are activity counts, not a disclosure of private pipeline or allocation decisions.
What Would Show Improvement by Stage
June improves if early-stage round count broadens, Series B quality rises, and growth capital becomes less concentrated. Those are separate tests because each part of the market weakened in a different way.
Early Stage - Pre-Seed to Series A
Venture - Series B
Growth - Series C to E
What Would Make June Better
June needs broader round count, lower top-10 concentration, and a stronger Series B qualifier rate to look healthier than May. Without those changes, May reads less like a one-month pause and more like a weaker run-rate.
Breadth recovery: next month rounds exceed the prior-two-month baseline.
Concentration easing: top-10 share falls below 45.0% of capital.
Series B quality: qualifier rate rises above 15.0%.
Interpretation Guardrails
All figures are based on disclosed public funding-round records. Sector groups are non-exclusive category tags, so a company can appear in more than one sector group. Sector totals are momentum indicators, not a market-size sum.
Geography reflects company headquarters or disclosed company location, not where capital was deployed. Investor tables reflect public round participation and lead-investor flags, not private holdings, private investment activity, or recommendations.
Methodology
Figures are based on public funding-round records and are reconciled against internal analytical dashboards before publication. Tables and charts are published as interactive views. Ask follow-up questions at
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