Funding Landscape Overview: Prediction Markets Lead, AI and Payment Follow
On July 1, 2026, BlockBeats reported that the top 14 funding deals globally in the first half of 2026 raised a total of $4.3 billion. Prediction market platform Kalshi topped the list with $1.2 billion, followed by Polymarket at $600 million, for a combined $1.8 billion—over 40% of the top 14 total. This underscores prediction markets as one of the most attractive sectors for capital, especially amid surging demand driven by US elections and global events.
AI Sector Funding Active, Leading Projects in High Demand
The AI space also saw impressive activity. Replit, Exa AI, and OpenRouter raised $400 million, $250 million, and $113 million respectively, totaling $763 million. These projects occupy leading positions in code generation, AI search, and model routing, reflecting continued capital commitment to AI infrastructure and application layers.
Blockchain Infrastructure and Compliance Projects Diversify
In the blockchain domain, Canton Network raised $355 million driven by distributed ledger interoperability needs; Arc secured $222 million focusing on DeFi infrastructure; Morpho obtained $175 million for optimizing on-chain lending protocols. Additionally, payment project Rain, RWA platform Slash, infrastructure provider Goldcom, trading platform Alpaca, and compliance tool Elliptic all made the list, signaling broad capital deployment across payments, real-world asset tokenization, and regulatory technology.