US Black-founded startups raise $643 million in first five months of 2026

US Black-founded startups raised $643 million from the beginning of 2026 through May 31, according to Crunchbase data reported by @techcrunch. The amount exceeds any quarterly total recorded since 2022, when Black founders raised $653 million for the full year. The 2026 figure represents nearly 70 percent of the $942 million Black-founded companies raised across all of 2025.

32 percent of the $290 billion in overall US venture funding last year. Thirty-four deals closed in the five-month period. The largest was a $350 million Series E round for AI hardware company SambaNova.

Sports-prediction startup Noviq raised $75 million in a Series B round, and YC-backed AI insurance platform Harper raised $47 million. US startups overall raised $252 billion during the same stretch, placing the Black-founded total at a fraction of one percent of aggregate venture dollars.

Gené Teare, head of research at Crunchbase, said access to networks, relationships, and early introductions continues to constrain many Black founders.

She noted the pattern persists even inside the concentrated, AI-centric funding environment of 2026. Teare added that Crunchbase data show a persistent decline in funding to Black-founded companies that has outpaced the broader venture downturn now in its eighth or ninth quarter.

She also said an abundance of caution among investors may be limiting bets on first-time founders, who are more likely to be diverse.

The $643 million total remains small relative to historical benchmarks and does not indicate broad improvement in capital access for Black founders.