The money came back. The deals didn't.
20 quarters of US startup funding, rebuilt from SEC Form D filings. Companies raised almost exactly as much in the past year as they did 4 years ago — across a third fewer deals.
- In the twelve months to Q2 2026, US companies disclosed $82.6B across 658 offerings of $20M+. 4 years earlier they disclosed $81.5B across 1,001 — 1% more money, 34% fewer deals.
- The average disclosed offering grew from $81M to $125M — up 54%.
- The trough was Q2 2023 at $6.46B, against a high of $27.7B.
- Deal count peaked at 287 offerings in Q4 2021 and has not recovered.
- 3,196 offerings from 2,445 US companies, $300.4B in total.
Dollars disclosed, by quarter
Capital recovered sharply from the Q2 2023 trough. On dollars alone, the downturn looks over.
Number of offerings, by quarter
The same period by deal count tells the opposite story. Over the past year 658 offerings cleared $20M, against 1,001 4 years earlier. Fewer companies are raising at this size at all — and the ones that do are raising much more, $125M on average against $81M.
Note: the most recent quarter or two undercount. Form D is due 15 days after a first sale, and amendments arrive for months afterwards, so recent bars fill in over time.
Which sectors are getting funded
Share of US startup funding by sector, comparing the twelve months to Q2 2026 against Q3 2021–Q2 2022. Measured two ways, because the two disagree.
By dollars, software looks like it is taking over — 70.4% → 77.9% of all capital. That finding does not survive contact with the data. Remove the single largest offering in each period and the gap disappears (72.1% → 72.4%); remove the ten largest and software's share falls (70.5% → 65.7%). The apparent concentration is a handful of enormous AI raises, not a broad shift.
Deal count tells the truer story, because one $16B raise counts once. On that measure software is losing share — 66.0% → 59.7% of offerings — while healthcare has gained (10.0% → 14.0%) and biotech has held roughly flat. More companies outside software are clearing $20M than four years ago; they are simply raising less each.
Why this isn't a "fastest growing" ranking
Form D reports capital raised, not revenue or headcount — and a raise is a lumpy event, not a growth curve. A company that raises a seed one year and a Series B the next shows enormous apparent "growth" that is simply normal progression.
Only 72 of the 2,445 companies here raised in both the most recent 12 months and the 12 before it — and annual raisers are the exception, not the winners. Ranking them would measure fundraising cadence, not growth. We publish totals and trends instead, and say what they are.
Cite this
Source: SEC Form D structured data. Amounts are self-reported by the issuer on a notice filing — not audited, and cumulative across amendments. Full methodology →