Global venture funding reached $56 billion in April, up 100% year over year, driven by large AI rounds including $15 billion to Anthropic and $10 billion to Project Prometheus.

April venture funding hit $56 billion, marking the third-largest monthly funding in a year. Anthropic and Jeff Bezos's Project Prometheus (focused on AI manufacturing) raised $15 billion and $10 billion respectively, together accounting for 45% of venture capital in April.

Artificial intelligence funding dominated at $37 billion, or 66% of global venture investment. AI model companies raised $26.7 billion; physical AI in robotics, aerospace, drones and autonomous vehicles represented around $5.3 billion; and AI infrastructure in semiconductor and data centers raised $1.8 billion.

U.S. companies raised $39 billion, or around 70% of global venture capital in April. Global venture investment is up 139% year over year through April, with nearly 60% of that capital going to just five companies backed by deep-pocketed public technology companies, private equity and venture investors.