Big Q1 VC rounds: AI & cyber

Kai formally emerged from stealth on March 10, 2026, according to its launch announcement. (prnewswire.com) The company named Galina Antova as co‑founder and CEO and said it has already signed multiple large customers across energy, pharmaceuticals, automotive and hospitality, reporting more than seven‑figure bookings within its first 10 months of development. (prnewswire.com) Eileen’s March 16, 2026 filing shows the startup is led by founder and CEO Jordan Karcher and that the round was led by Top Shelf Ventures to expand a “Performance Hub” that turns photo‑verified in‑store shelf data into operational signals for CPG brands. (techstartups.com) The Eileen team plans to use the new capital expressly for hiring, product development and pushing deeper into the consumer packaged goods market, per the company statement. (techstartups.com) Seattle’s Certiv surfaced from stealth on March 16, 2026, positioning a “runtime assurance” layer that installs on employee workstations to observe and govern agentic AI before actions reach production systems. (prnewswire.com) Certiv’s leadership includes CEO Jason Needham with co‑founders CTO Paul Allen and Chief AI Officer Daniel Morris, the company traces its founding to June 2025, runs pilots with enterprise customers, and counts Aviso Ventures, Founders Co‑op and Fortson among its investors. (geekwire.com) PitchBook’s Q1 analyst note highlights the broader funding pattern behind these rounds: consumer AI VC surged to $89 billion in 2025, with ten megadeals over $1 billion accounting for $71.5 billion and later‑stage rounds capturing nearly 95% of deployed capital. (pitchbook.com)