Parts of VC Are in a Clear AI Hype Cycle Right Now

Parts of VC Are in a Clear AI Hype Cycle Right Now

Author

Peter Walker

|

Read time: 

1 minute

Published date: 

March 30, 2026

The top 5% of seed rounds have entered obvious hype-cycle territory, while median market remains more grounded—founders should calibrate to the realistic...

LinkedIn: Parts of VC Are in a Clear AI Hype Cycle Right Now

Founders - the top 5% has achieved liftoff.

Bryce Roberts of Indie VC noted, "I can't relate at all to where I'm seeing the VC world heading"

I hear ya, Bryce!

Massive funds playing at the earliest stages. Wild valuations getting signed in hours, not days or weeks. Secondaries flying off the shelves.

In parts of VC, we have entered a clear and obvious hype cycle around AI. And that's not a shot at whether AI will transform the world and our work - it can do so and still be a frenzied hype cycle where most investments don't result in returns.

Top 5% valuations hit $115M in the final quarter of last year.

Historically expensive!

Peter Walker
Author: Peter Walker
Peter Walker runs the Insights team at Carta, focused on discovering key data and narratives across the private capital ecosystem. In a former life, he was a marketing executive for a media analytics startup and led the data visualization team at the Covid Tracking Project.

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