10 AI labs joined Crunchbase's Unicorn Board in June, led by DeepSeek

Crunchbase counted 34 new companies reaching unicorn status in June, adding more than $110 billion in combined value. Ten of those were AI labs, collectively valued at $65 billion, with DeepSeek leading the group.

Why it matters: Nearly a third of new unicorns last month were AI labs, accounting for close to 60% of the month's total new value, a concrete sign that frontier-model startups, not just app-layer AI companies, are still commanding outsized valuations even as some question an AI funding bubble.