Venture Capital Bets Shift from Fintech to Physical Automation

Roughly 40 VC-backed startups hit billion-dollar valuations in the first half of 2026, tracking toward the strongest year since 2021. The roster has pivoted sharply: robotics, medical devices, industrial fabrication, supply-chain security, and healthcare automation now dominate, displacing the fintech and SaaS wave of five years prior. AI underpins most products, but capital flows toward applied infrastructure and physical-world systems rather than model development alone.