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Company

PitchBook

Filtered to Acquisitions & M&A ×
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, China.

Articles
159
mentions
Velocity
-53.8%
growth rate
Acceleration
-1.396
velocity change
Sources
30
publications

Coverage Timeline

2026-07-24
Wall Street Journal 10 related

Sources: Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter, which helps developers use AI models and could fetch ~$10B; PitchBook: OpenRouter was valued at $1.3B in May

Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter, a buzzy startup that helps developers choose between artificial intelligence models, according to people familiar with the matter.

2026-07-23
Wall Street Journal 2 related

Sources: Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter in a deal potentially worth around $10B; PitchBook: OpenRouter was valued at $1.3B in May

Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter, a buzzy startup that helps developers choose between artificial intelligence models, according to people familiar with the matter.

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.

2026-05-29
TechCrunch 8 related

Asana acquires StackAI, a no-code platform for building AI agents, for $75M as part of Asana's broader AI pivot; PitchBook: StackAI raised ~$20M

Asana has acquired the workflow automation company StackAI for $75 million, part of a larger effort to position itself as an AI-native workplace platform.

2026-03-20
The Information 9 related

Amazon acquires Zurich-based autonomous robotics startup Rivr, formerly Swiss-Mile; PitchBook: the startup was valued at $110M in an August 2024 funding round

Amazon has acquired autonomous robotics startup Rivr, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, a deal that could help the commerce …

2026-03-19
The Information 2 related

Amazon acquires Zurich-based autonomous robotics startup Rivr, formerly Swiss-Mile; PitchBook: the startup was valued at $110M in an August 2024 funding round

Amazon has acquired autonomous robotics startup Rivr, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, a deal that could help the commerce …

2026-02-17
Globes 22 related

Palo Alto Networks agrees to acquire Israeli endpoint security company Koi Security, sources say for ~$400M; Koi raised $48M across two rounds, per PitchBook

Koi has developed a software engine that uses large language models and AI agents to detect malware and vulnerabilities in applications.

2024-11-14
Bloomberg 3 related

Sources: Thrive Capital is in talks to invest ~$1B in analytics software maker Databricks at a ~$55B valuation; PitchBook says DataBricks has raised $4B+ so far

Bloomberg :

2024-08-13
TechCrunch 2 related

Tally, which helped users manage and pay off credit card debt, is shutting down; the startup had raised $172M and, per PitchBook, was last valued at $855M

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch :

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Quarterly Coverage

Top Sources

Narrative

PitchBook has appeared in 230 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 developer, funding 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

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