Venture investors put $47.4 billion into physical AI, robotics, defense tech, aerospace and autonomous systems startups across 521 deals in the first half of 2026, according to Crunchbase data. That is nearly four times the $12 billion invested in the second half of 2025 and about 80% more than the $26.4 billion invested in the first half of 2025, Crunchbase reported.
The first half of 2026 alone surpassed the combined $41.9 billion invested in the sector across all of 2022 through 2024, according to Crunchbase.
Self-driving car company Waymo accounted for close to a third of the total with a $16 billion round in February at a $126 billion valuation, Crunchbase reported. Defense contractor Anduril Industries raised $5 billion in May at a $61 billion valuation, drone and AI defense company Shield AI raised $2 billion in March at $12.7 billion, and autonomous ship maker Saronic raised $1.75 billion in March at $9.25 billion, according to Crunchbase.
SpaceX raised $75 billion in an IPO during the period at a $1.77 trillion valuation, and Mobileye acquired humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for roughly $900 million, Crunchbase reported.
The scale matters for anyone building software for these companies: physical AI is now attracting capital at a pace once reserved for foundation model labs, and the buyers increasingly need software, sensors and tooling built around hardware that ships, not just APIs.