After reports last month that Thrive, one of New York’s most prominent venture firms, had raised $10 billion for a new fund — the biggest in its history and twice the size of its previous one — another major VC player is now said to be aiming for a fundraise of similar scale. General Catalyst is currently in discussions to raise $10 billion, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg. The firm, which has increasingly repositioned itself as a broader financial services platform, raised $8 billion only a couple of years earlier, in 2024.
At the same time, Spark Capital is reportedly seeking to raise $3 billion, according to sources who spoke with The Information, a significant increase over its earlier funds. These developments come after Andreessen Horowitz announced $15 billion in fresh funding in January.
Venture capital firms were already holding a record level of dry powder — capital that has been committed but not yet deployed — by the close of 2025, according to the year-end report released by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. Even so, 2026 is already emerging as a year defined by even larger fundraises and greater ambition, at least for venture firms with strong brand recognition and highly desirable portfolios.
The most obvious expectation is that venture investors will continue to have ample capital to support seed-stage AI startups with unusually large first rounds and lofty valuations. Massive startup funding rounds — provided the companies are focused on AI — are likely to remain a defining feature of 2026.
