New York City venture capital delivered $2.01 billion across 75 companies in May 2026, a 12.0% increase from April fueled by one of the city’s strongest multi-deal months on record. Seven NYC startups each raised $100 million or more — a concentration of large rounds rarely seen outside months anchored by a single outlier raise. Modal Labs led with $355 million for its AI cloud infrastructure platform, but the month’s character was defined less by any one deal than by the breadth of capital flowing into mature, revenue-stage companies across healthcare, insurance, fintech, and AI infrastructure. Four of the top 10 deals — Vi Labs, Reserv, Garner Health, and Nourish — collectively raised $471 million, underscoring a quiet but substantial reorientation of NYC late-stage capital toward health and insurance technology. AI-identified companies captured 66% of all funding deployed, with $1.32 billion spread across 32 startups spanning clinical AI, insurance automation, investment management, and cybersecurity.
- NYC venture capital activity reached $2.01B across 75 deals in May 2026, a 12.0% increase in capital from April despite a month defined by mid-market momentum rather than a single outsized raise.
- Modal Labs’ $355M late-stage round was the largest NYC deal of the month, accounting for 17.7% of all local capital deployed.
- AI companies captured 66% of all NYC capital deployed in May, with 32 of 75 funded startups identified as AI-focused.
- Series B activity was notably elevated, with 9 deals totaling $454.9M — an average of $50.5M per round, driven in part by RADAR’s $170M raise and OpenRouter’s $113M.
- Year-over-year, NYC funding declined 16.4% from May 2025’s $2.40B, while deal count rose from the prior year’s pace.
NYC Venture Capital Activity by Stage — May 2026
| Stage | Deals | Total Capital | % of Total | Avg Deal | Median Deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early-Stage | 36 | $158.7M | 7.9% | $4.4M | $2.5M |
| Series A | 18 | $277.6M | 13.8% | $15.4M | $15.2M |
| Series B | 9 | $454.9M | 22.7% | $50.5M | $33.0M |
| Late-Stage | 12 | $1.11B | 55.6% | $92.9M | $64.0M |
| Total | 75 | $2.01B | 100% | $26.7M | $10.0M |
Top 10 NYC Venture Capital Deals — May 2026
| # | Company | Amount | Stage | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modal Labs | $355M | Late-Stage | AI Infrastructure, Cloud Computing |
| 2 | RADAR | $170M | Series B | Retail Technology, Computer Vision |
| 3 | Vi Labs | $146M | Late-Stage | Agentic AI, Healthcare, Life Science |
| 4 | Reserv | $125M | Late-Stage | Insurance, Financial Services |
| 5 | OpenRouter | $113M | Series B | Artificial Intelligence, Software |
| 6 | Garner Health | $100M | Late-Stage | Health Care, Employee Benefits |
| 7 | Nourish | $100M | Late-Stage | Health Care, Nutrition, Telehealth |
| 8 | Moment | $78M | Late-Stage | FinTech, Risk Management, AI |
| 9 | Frame Security | $50M | Late-Stage | Cybersecurity |
| 10 | Daloopa | $47M | Late-Stage | Financial Services, AI, Analytics |
Modal Labs Leads a Strong Month for AI Infrastructure
Modal Labs’ $355M late-stage round was the defining deal of May, cementing the company’s position as one of NYC’s most heavily backed AI infrastructure plays. The serverless cloud platform, which enables developers to run machine learning and data processing workloads without managing infrastructure, has become a critical layer in the AI development stack. At 17.7% of all NYC capital deployed in May, Modal’s raise single-handedly elevated the month’s headline figure and anchored a broader pattern: AI infrastructure and tooling companies attracted a disproportionate share of late-stage investment in May.
OpenRouter’s $113M Series B added another dimension to the AI infrastructure story. The platform, which routes AI applications to large language models and cloud hosting providers, raised at a moment when enterprises are actively building out multi-model strategies. Together, Modal and OpenRouter alone accounted for $468M — nearly 23% of all NYC capital in May.
Series B Activity Surges on Retail and AI Bets
May’s Series B cohort stood out as the most active by average deal size, with nine rounds totaling $454.9M at a $50.5M mean — well above what the stage typically produces in NYC. RADAR’s $170M raise was the key driver. The retail technology company, which uses computer vision and RFID to automate in-store inventory tracking and checkout, raised one of the larger Series B rounds seen in the NYC market this year. RADAR and OpenRouter together represented 61.2% of all Series B capital in May, which skewed the stage average significantly; the median of $33.0M is a more representative figure for the rest of the cohort.
AI Captures Two-Thirds of NYC Capital
Thirty-two of 75 funded NYC companies in May were identified as AI-focused, accounting for $1.32B — 66% of all capital deployed locally. The concentration is notable not just for its magnitude but for its spread across verticals: Vi Labs ($146M) applies AI to healthcare and life sciences, Reserv ($125M) uses it for insurance claims processing, Moment ($78M) for investment management, and Frame Security ($50M) for cybersecurity. The month illustrated how AI has moved from a descriptor for foundational model companies to an operational layer embedded across insurance, health, finance, and enterprise software.
Of the top 10 NYC deals in May, seven involved companies with AI at the core of their product — a ratio that reflects both investor appetite and the continued maturation of AI-native business models in the city’s startup ecosystem.
NYC vs. US National Venture Capital Activity — May 2026
| Stage | NYC Deals | NYC Capital | NYC % of Capital | US Deals | US Capital | NYC Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early-Stage | 36 | $158.7M | 7.9% | 236 | $1.07B | 14.9% |
| Series A | 18 | $277.6M | 13.8% | 92 | $2.71B | 10.3% |
| Series B | 9 | $454.9M | 22.7% | 40 | $2.52B | 18.1% |
| Late-Stage | 12 | $1.11B | 55.6% | 41 | $60.74B | 1.8% |
| Total | 75 | $2.01B | 100% | 409 | $67.03B | 3.0% |
NYC accounted for 3.0% of US venture capital by dollars in May 2026, a figure significantly compressed by Anthropic’s $50B Series H — the largest venture round in recorded history — which single-handedly concentrated the national headline. Stripping out Anthropic, NYC’s share of the remaining $17.03B in US activity would be approximately 11.8%, a more historically representative reading of the city’s standing. NYC’s 18.3% share of national deal count reflects a market that punches above its weight at the volume level. The city’s strongest competitive position was at Series B, where it captured 18.1% of national capital across 22.5% of deals.
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Looking Ahead
With $2.01B deployed in May, NYC has now posted back-to-back months above $1.7B — a level of consistency that signals healthy underlying demand rather than episodic spikes. The Series B cohort’s strength is worth watching: nine rounds at a $50.5M average suggest a group of companies that raised Series A capital in 2023 and 2024 are now reaching the scale inflection where larger follow-on checks are warranted. If that pipeline holds, June could see continued Series B activity as more of that cohort completes their fundraising cycles. The health and insurance verticals, each producing two top-10 deals in May, have emerged as recurring themes in NYC’s late-stage market and bear watching as AI-native applications in both spaces continue to attract investor interest.
Methodology
Data for this report is sourced from AlleyWatch proprietary funding data (funding.alleywatch.com) and covers venture capital rounds announced or closed in May 2026 by NYC-headquartered startups. Deals are classified into four stages: Early-Stage (pre-seed, seed, angel, accelerator, and incubator rounds); Series A; Series B; and Late-Stage (Series C and beyond). AI company classification is based on the presence of relevant keywords across company description and industry fields. All figures are in USD.
