Top AI Investors & VCs 2026 - Who Funds AI Startups

Complete guide to top VCs investing in AI startups. Includes a16z, Sequoia, Thrive Capital check sizes, focus areas, and how to get funded. Updated February 2026.

Top AI Investors & VCs 2026

A guide to the top venture capital firms investing in AI startups.

Top AI-Focused VCs

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

  • AUM: $90B+
  • Notable Investments: OpenAI ($10B), Anthropic ($4B), Scale AI ($1B), Databricks
  • Thesis: Platform plays, developer tools, horizontal first
  • Team: Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Martin Casado
  • Check Size: $5M - $500M
  • 2025 AI Deals: 25+

Sequoia Capital

  • AUM: $90B+
  • Notable Investments: Databricks, Mistral AI, Notion, Hugging Face
  • Thesis: Company building, operator experience, long-term partnership
  • Team: Roelof Botha, Alfred Lin, Pat Grady
  • Check Size: $5M - $300M
  • 2025 AI Deals: 20+

Thrive Capital

  • AUM: $25B+
  • Notable Investments: OpenAI ($2B+), Scale AI, Anthropic
  • Thesis: Growth-stage, revenue-led, partner scaling
  • Team: Joshua Kushner, Jon Wolff
  • Check Size: $10M - $200M
  • 2025 AI Deals: 15+

Accel

  • AUM: $25B+
  • Notable Investments: Scale AI, AssemblyAI, Grammarly, Cohere
  • Thesis: Early-stage, founder-first, global reach
  • Team: Sonja Perkins, Andrew Braccia
  • Check Size: $5M - $100M
  • 2025 AI Deals: 15+

Lightspeed Venture Partners

  • AUM: $19B+
  • Notable Investments: Perplexity, Mistral AI, Runway, Harvey
  • Thesis: Theme-driven, developer-focused, seed-first
  • Team: Barry Eggers, Jeremy Liew
  • Check Size: $5M - $50M
  • 2025 AI Deals: 12+

Corporate Venture Capital

Google Ventures (GV)

  • Portfolio: Anthropic, Waymo, Grammarly, Gong
  • Focus: AI-first, Alphabet synergy
  • Check Size: $5M - $50M

Microsoft Ventures

  • Portfolio: Mistral AI, OpenAI (indirect)
  • Focus: Azure integration, enterprise AI
  • Check Size: $5M - $100M

NVIDIA Ventures

  • Portfolio: 50+ AI startups
  • Focus: GPU ecosystem, infrastructure
  • Check Size: $5M - $50M

Investment Stages by VC

Stage Top VCs
Pre-Seed Y Combinator, a16z (Bio +), Seed Fund
Seed Lightspeed, First Round, a16z (Arc), Benchmark
Series A a16z, Sequoia, Accel, Greylock
Series B Thrive, Insight, General Catalyst
Growth Thrive, Sequoia, Coatue

Hot AI Investment Themes 2026

1. AI Agents

  • Thesis: Autonomous workflows replacing software
  • Examples: Adept ($650M), Sierra, Imbue
  • Red Flag: Still proving retention

2. Vertical AI

  • Thesis: Domain-specific > horizontal
  • Examples: Harvey (legal), Gleane (legal), Evenup (insurance)
  • Red Flag: TAM concerns

3. AI Infrastructure

  • Thesis: Pickaxes in gold rush
  • Examples: Scale AI ($10B), CoreWeave ($19B), Together AI
  • Red Flag: NVIDIA dependency

4. Edge AI

  • Thesis: On-device inference
  • Examples: Apple AI, Qualcomm partnerships
  • Red Flag: Model commoditization

5. AI Security

  • Thesis: Protecting AI systems
  • Examples: Hidden Layer, Robust Intelligence
  • Red Flag: Emerging market

Deal Terms to Know

Common Terms

Term Typical Notes
Pre-money ARR × 10-30x Depends on growth
Option pool 10-20% Created pre-money
Liquidation pref 1x non-participating Founder-friendly
Board seat Investor +1 At Series A

Founder-Friendly Terms

  • No liquidation preference
  • Single digit% vesting acceleration
  • MFN clauses (most favored nation)
  • Pro-rata rights

How to Get Funded

For AI Startups

  1. Demonstrate growth - 10x YoY minimum
  2. Show defensibility - Data moat, ecosystem
  3. Technical depth - Strong ML team
  4. TAM - Clear path to $1B+
  5. Competitive landscape - Clear differentiation

Warm Intro Sources

  1. Demo days - YC, a16z Arc, Pika
  2. Referrals - Portfolio founders
  3. Twitter - Build in public
  4. Conferences - NIPS, a16z Summit

Due Diligence Questions

Technical

  • What's your inference cost per user?
  • How do you improve model quality?
  • What's your data moat?
  • What GPUs do you use?

Business

  • What's your gross margin?
  • Who's paying and why?
  • What's customer concentration?
  • What's your CAC payback?

Team

  • Founder background?
  • Technical co-founder?
  • Advisor network?

FAQ

Which VC invests the most in AI?

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has made the most AI investments, with 25+ AI deals in 2025, followed by Sequoia with 20+ deals.

How much do top VCs invest in AI startups?

Top VCs typically invest $5M-$500M in AI startups. a16z writes checks from $5M to $500M, while Thrive Capital invests $10M-$200M.

How to get funded by top VCs for AI?

Show 10x YoY growth, demonstrate defensibility through data moats or ecosystem, have a strong technical team, and show clear path to $1B+ TAM.

What are hot AI investment themes in 2026?

Hot themes include AI agents, vertical AI, AI infrastructure, edge AI, and AI security.

Last updated: February 2026