The Cohort: 135 Startups, $1.12B: AI Infrastructure Commands $281M in Aug Fortnight

◆ Startups this week

135

◆ Fresh capital

$1.1B

◆ Undisclosed terms

27 startups

◆ Previous week

0 startups · $0M

◆ Published

26 August 2026

◆ The Week

In the fortnight ending 26 August 2026, 135 startups closed rounds totalling $1,118M, with 27 rounds undisclosed. As this is one of the first editions of The Cohort, no prior-edition comparison is available — these figures stand as the baseline against which future fortnights will be measured.

◆ Stages

Seed dominated by deal volume with 61 rounds and $552M, and pre-seed added a further 42 rounds for $101M — together accounting for more than three-quarters of all deals. Series A, at 23 rounds, concentrated $425M, making the average Series A cheque in this window the largest by stage. The stage distribution is skewed early, consistent with a market where conviction capital is still finding later-stage homes selectively.

◆ Sectors

Fintech led by deal count with 15 startups and $149M, but AI Infrastructure dominated capital allocation: 13 deals absorbed $281M — a concentration ratio that reflects the capital intensity of chip and compute-layer plays rather than broad investor enthusiasm for the category. AI & ML and AI Agents each logged $49M across 10 and 7 deals respectively, a much thinner cheque average that points to earlier-stage positioning. Cybersecurity (4 deals, $36M) and Climate Tech (4 deals, $19M) appeared in the cohort but at volumes that suggest selective rather than thematic deployment.

◆ Geography

The United States led on both deal count (36 startups) and capital ($512M), roughly doubling the next geography by either measure. The United Kingdom punched well above its deal weight: 11 startups accounted for $225M — more capital per deal than any other geography in the top eight. India placed second by deal count with 16 startups and $79M, while South Korea logged 10 deals for just $12M, suggesting a dense cluster of smaller, earlier rounds.

◆ The Database

Full deal-level data, investor mapping, and sector filters for all 135 startups in this cohort are available in the Fusion42 Scout database.

◆ Startups in this edition

• CodeRabbit
• Velaura AI
• Kalosm
• Callosum
• Silicon Data
• Terra Industries
• Remepy
• Keenable
• Apollo Atomics
• Mindgard
• Sume
• Primero