In the first quarter of 2023, global venture capital funding soared to a record $300 billion, according to Crunchbase data. This surge is largely attributed to investments in artificial intelligence (AI) startups, which received nearly 80% of the total funding. Notably, four companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Waymo—accounted for approximately $188 billion, or two-thirds of the total funding. Despite this impressive figure, the overall market activity remains uneven. Andreessen Horowitz highlighted that even without the largest deals, the funding would still total around $112 billion, which would have been a record in previous years. Early-stage funding saw a 41% increase year-on-year, while seed funding rose by 31% in value, although the number of seed deals decreased. In India, the venture capital landscape is diverging from global trends, with early-stage funding improving but mid- to late-stage capital remaining constrained. Experts suggest that while sentiment is gradually improving, the late-stage recovery seen globally is not yet reflected in the Indian market.