Q1 2026 venture funding hit a record $300 billion, driven by four AI mega-deals yet supported by growth in early-stage and seed rounds. The charts also highlight construction’s long-term productivity stagnation, rising jet fuel and airfare risks, the coming AI inference infrastructure boom, and fertilizer supply shocks from Strait of Hormuz disruptions.

• Q1 2026 venture funding hit a record $300B, with AI mega-deals (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Waymo) making up $188B, yet even excluding them the quarter would still be a record ~$112B
• US construction productivity has barely improved since 1950 while overall economic productivity tripled, leaving a $2T sector ripe for prefab/robotics/AI disruption
• Strait of Hormuz disruptions have nearly doubled jet fuel prices since February, threatening airlines with ~$5.8B in added costs and setting up steeper summer airfares
• The same Strait of Hormuz tensions are choking nitrogen fertilizer and LNG shipments (25%+ of global nitrogen, 20% of LNG), pushing urea prices toward 2022 highs and risking global food-price inflation