Are VCs hot or cold on your industry?
Data from 1,000+ Series A rounds over the past 12 months or so.
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AI Infrastructure. New models themselves or companies supporting that ecosystem. Neolabs (startups building world models, new vision models, etc) are off the charts.
Semiconductors. Kinda obvious, in a world that's never been more focused on chips, chip companies are in vogue.
Hardware. Deep tech founders, your time has come!
Cybersecurity. Always a strong category, but the Mythos bump is real.
ππ»ππ²πππΌπΏπ π¦π΅πΏππ΄:
Food & Bev. Just not a super fundable VC category at the moment (some outliers always however).
Edtech. I keep hoping that this category will rise in valuations and overall round volume but it just hasn't. Even in the AI age.
Medical Devices. Physical products in a highly regulated space = fewer investors even willing to play.
So far in 2026, about 80% of companies building software products were AI companies. It's not really a "wave" anymore, it's the default position.
Perhaps an opening for the non-AI contrarians? Or maybe AI losing explanatory power because it's so widespread.
Last note for founders - yes, the money is out there. Yes, people are raising at absolutely bonkers valuations ever-earlier. But no, this is not an easy time to fundraise. The competition is fierce, the expectations are high, and investor attention is fickle to say the least.
Respect for the builders! π
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