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Company

PitchBook

159 articles decelerating

86% of US venture funding in H1 2026 went to AI startups, making PitchBook a central data source for coverage of a sharply concentrated private-market boom.

Who they are

PitchBook appears in coverage as a provider of private-market financing, valuation and venture-capital data. Its figures supply context for startup acquisitions and IPO-adjacent stories, including funding histories for Koi Security, GPTZero, Kumo, Rivr and earlier companies such as Nod.ai and TaxJar, while its research is also cited directly in reports on US venture, crypto and defense-tech activity.

The recent arc

Coverage reached its all-time quarterly peak in 2026Q2, shifting from PitchBook as a supporting source on individual transactions to PitchBook as the basis for broader assessments of the venture market. The July 2026 SiliconANGLE reports led with its estimate that US venture funding hit $412.7B in H1 2026, with AI accounting for $355.9B, while the Financial Times cited its defense-tech funding data and CNBC used its unicorn analysis to describe pressure on older startups.

That macro role has not displaced its deal-data function. June stories cited PitchBook valuations or fundraising in Superhuman's acquisition of GPTZero, Nvidia's acquisition of Kumo, and Amazon's acquisition of Rivr; earlier coverage similarly used the firm to quantify companies in transactions involving Palo Alto Networks, AMD, Google and Stripe. Together, those citations show PitchBook functioning both as transaction infrastructure and as a measure of where private capital is accumulating.

The tension

The coverage centers on a bifurcated venture market: AI is absorbing an outsized share of new US capital and producing large rounds, while many pre-ChatGPT-era unicorns appear unable to secure fresh financing. PitchBook's finding that half of US unicorns have not raised in three years, alongside its estimate that more than a quarter of VC-backed unicorns have become “undercorns,” contrasts directly with the AI-led funding surge tracked in its H1 2026 data.

Why it matters

If this pattern persists, PitchBook's data will remain important not merely for pricing individual acquisitions but for testing whether AI investment is broadening into a healthier venture cycle or concentrating capital among a small set of companies and mega-rounds. The unresolved private-market backlog among inactive or fallen unicorns could shape exits, acquisitions and IPO readiness even as AI and defense-tech funding expand.

PitchBook has appeared in 159 articles since 2016-08. Coverage peaked in 2026Q2 with 13 articles. Frequently mentioned alongside AI, VCs, IPO, U.S..

Articles
159
mentions
Velocity
-84.6%
growth rate
Acceleration
-1.703
velocity change
Sources
30
publications

Coverage Timeline

2026-07-10
SiliconANGLE 3 related

PitchBook: US venture funding hit $412.7B in H1 2026, up 30% on all of 2025, with AI startup funding accounting for 86%, or $355.9B; Q2 saw seven $1B+ rounds

2026-07-09
SiliconANGLE 3 related

PitchBook: US venture funding hit $412.7B in H1 2026, up 30% on all of 2025, with AI startup funding accounting for 86%, or $355.9B; Q2 saw seven $1B+ rounds

U.S. venture capital deal value hit $412.7 billion in the first half of 2026, nearly 30% more than investors put to work in all of last year …

2026-06-24
Business Insider 13 related

Superhuman acquires AI detection startup GPTZero, which has 19M+ registered users and $30M in annual recurring revenue; PitchBook: GPTZero is valued at $88M+

As AI-generated content storms the internet, productivity company Superhuman is acquiring GPTZero, an AI detection startup cofounded by Edward Tian and Alex Cui in 2023.

2026-06-22
Financial Times

PitchBook: defense tech companies making drones, battlefield AI, and more raised $12.3B across 175 deals in 2026 so far, up from a $9.95B from 158 deals in 2025

Funding this year has already surpassed 2025 total as soaring valuations fuel fears of a hype cycle

2026-06-04
The Information 2 related

Nvidia acquires Kumo, which sells predictive AI software to enterprises, a source says for $400M+; PitchBook says Kumo raised $37M at a $250M valuation in 2022

Nvidia has bought Kumo AI, a five-year-old startup that sells predictive AI software to enterprises, for more than $400 million, said a person with knowledge of the deal.

2026-06-03
The Information 1 related

Nvidia acquired Kumo, which sells predictive AI software to enterprises, a source says for $400M+; PitchBook: Kumo raised $37M at a $250M valuation in 2022

Nvidia has bought Kumo AI, a five-year-old startup that sells predictive AI software to enterprises, for more than $400 million, said a person with knowledge of the deal.

2026-06-02
CNBC 2 related

Pre-ChatGPT era startups face a reckoning in private markets; PitchBook: nearly half of US unicorns haven't raised in three years and 220+ are “fallen unicorns”

2026-06-01
CNBC 3 related

Startups from the pre-ChatGPT era face a reckoning in private markets; PitchBook: half of US unicorns haven't raised in three years, 220+ are “fallen unicorns”

Five years ago, venture capitalists were pouring money into American startups selling everything from lingerie subscriptions …

2026-05-31
Wall Street Journal 1 related

PitchBook: VC investment in global robotics and physical AI jumped to $26B in 2025 from $4.2B in 2019, and has already topped $23B as of May 20 this year

Investors bet big on infrastructure and ‘physical AI,’ enticed by prospect of revenue opportunities

2026-05-30
Wall Street Journal 2 related

PitchBook: VC investment in global robotics and physical AI jumped to $26B in 2025 from $4.2B in 2019, and has already topped $23B as of May 20 this year

Investors bet big on infrastructure and ‘physical AI,’ enticed by prospect of revenue opportunities

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Quarterly Coverage

Top Sources

Narrative

PitchBook has appeared in 224 tech news articles since March 2016. The biggest stories include Sources: FTX is close to finalizing a term sheet to buy BlockFi for ~$25M and a deal... and Palo Alto Networks agrees to acquire Israeli endpoint security company Koi Security,.... Frequently covered alongside VCs, Amazon, TechCrunch, QoQ, and Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat. Coverage has shifted toward funding, developer themes and away from regulation.

Key Moments

2024Q2safety -7pts; consumer +10pts; research -7pts
2024Q3enterprise +29pts; developer +9pts; funding -36pts
2024Q4developer +9pts; consumer -18pts; research +9pts

Relationships

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