New York City startups raised $8.88 billion across 233 deals in Q2 2026 — the strongest second quarter in the city’s venture history and a 46% surge in capital year-over-year. June alone produced the largest single funding month AlleyWatch has ever recorded. Behind the headline: 24 mega-rounds, the arrival of frontier AI research labs as a New York phenomenon, and a market compounding at a pace not seen since 2021.