PitchBook clients can access this report and its Excel data pack via the Research Center on the PitchBook Platform.
Multistage funds and the AI boom are reshaping early-stage venture capital
US early-stage venture dealmaking is on pace for one of its strongest years on record, even as the investors historically most active in this market struggle to fundraise. In 2026 YTD, $86 billion has been deployed across 4,864 early-stage VC deals, with annualized deal value nearly on par with 2021’s record high and deal count on track to top 2025’s full-year total.
Our latest analyst note, Multistage Funds in Early-Stage VC: Bigger Checks, Fewer Winners, explains the disconnect: Record-scale fundraising by multistage funds such as Andreessen Horowitz, combined with a narrow set of capital-intensive AI-native startups, particularly frontier labs and AI infrastructure players, is reshaping who gets funded and when. Multistage fund participation at Series A has hit a record 17.3% of deal count in 2026 YTD, up from 9% in 2016, with participation by deal value reaching 37.8% in 2026 YTD, also a record high, while pre-seed and seed remain comparatively untouched. Read the full analyst note for what this barbell-shaped early-stage VC market means for founders, GPs, and LPs.
Multistage fund participation in Series A deals has nearly doubled since 2016, hitting a record 17.8% of deal count in 2026 YTD, while pre-seed participation has remained minimal.
