Top 5 VC Deals of the Week in AI (4/8/26)

By Christopher Robbins · Apr 9, 2026 Views: 3

Our Top 5 VC Deals of the Week in AI featured funding announcements from OpenAI, Shield AI, Modus, Coder, and EPG

This week we continue our series on the top 5 VC-funded deals in AI.

Even as the breadth of venture capital activity took a dip this week, a pair of extraordinary announcements kept up the overall momentum from prior weeks.

The biggest announcement, per FinSMEs, came from San Francisco-based OpenAI, which raised $122 billion, for the first time extending participation "to investors through bank channels, raising over $3 billion from individual investors. OpenAI will be included in several exchange-traded funds managed by ARK Invest," according to the announcement. Our second-place announcement was from San Diego-based Shield AI, which raised a $1.5 billion Series G, which it will use to "expand operations and its development efforts," according to its announcement. Shield AI builds autonomous systems, including software to pilot autonomous aircraft. The top five also included companies in the AI infrastructure and accounting spaces.

Smaller funding raises that did not quite make our top 5 this week included announcements from the AI chips, security and healthcare sectors.

Below, we highlight the top five venture capital deals, ranked from the highest to the lowest funding amounts, showcasing the companies at the forefront of the AI revolution...

Top 5 Venture Capital Deals from April 2 - April 8

1. OpenAI

Location: San Francisco, CA
Description: Creator of ChatGPT and a leading AI infrastructure company developing large-scale foundation models and enterprise AI systems.
Funding Amount: $122 billion (committed capital)
Funding Round: New financing round
Valuation: $852 billion post-money

2. Shield AI

Location: San Diego, CA
Description: Developer of autonomy software products enabling intelligent, self-directed systems for defense and aerospace applications.
Funding Amount: $1.5 billion
Funding Round: Series G
Valuation: $12.7 billion

3. EPG

Location: Singapore
Description: Provider of modular and prefabricated data center infrastructure designed to support scalable, high-performance compute environments.
Funding Amount: Over $100 million
Funding Round: Series B+

4. Coder

Location: Austin, TX
Description: Developer of AI development infrastructure tools that enable teams to build, deploy, and manage applications in secure, cloud-based environments.
Funding Amount: $90 million
Funding Round: Series C

5. Modus

- - Location: New York City, NY
  - Description: Provider of an AI-native audit technology platform aimed at modernizing compliance, risk management, and financial reporting workflows.
  - Funding Amount: $85 million
  - Funding Round: Seed and Series A

Make sure to check out our Top 5 VC Deals of the Week in AI right here!

Written & Researched by DWN Staff

VC Deals Synopsized by ChatGPT Research Source: FinSMEs