Oil and Gas Majors Bet $4.6bn on Startups as AI Rush Reverses Retreat

Oil and gas majors took part in startup funding rounds worth a combined $4.6bn in the third quarter of this year — the highest quarterly value in five years, according to Global Corporate Venturing (GCV).

The July-to-September period marks a sharp reversal for a corporate venturing community that had spent several years cutting back on startup investment. GCV, which reported the figures on October 22, tracks the investment patterns of a core group of 61 oil and gas sector companies every quarter.

How big was the comeback?

Group members participated in 37 startup funding rounds between July and September. That's the highest number of deals in two years, GCV data shows.

The disclosed value of those rounds — $4.6bn — hit a five-year high. The figures cover rounds where the value was made public; undisclosed rounds sit outside the total.

The jump in deal count and deal value together signals that energy companies aren't just dipping back in. They're writing bigger checks and writing them more often.

What's driving the spending spree?

Two forces sit behind the surge, according to GCV's analysis: rising oil prices and the global rush to build AI and data centres.

Stronger oil revenues have given majors the cash and the confidence to resume corporate venturing after a sustained pullback. At the same time, the AI boom has turned data centre power demand into one of the energy sector's most pressing strategic questions.

That dynamic is steering the majors' chequebooks in a specific direction. GCV reports that energy companies are investing in artificial intelligence startups while also backing alternative energy startups in areas like geothermal power and nuclear fusion.

The pairing isn't accidental. AI and data centres consume enormous amounts of electricity, and the oil and gas groups that profit from that demand today are hedging by funding the technologies that could supply it tomorrow — geothermal, fusion and the AI tools themselves.

Why does this quarter matter?

The Q3 numbers represent a break from a multi-year pattern of retrenchment. After years of cutting investment activity, the 61 tracked companies have swung back toward larger, more frequent bets.

Both headline metrics back that up. Deal count at 37 rounds is a two-year high. Deal value at $4.6bn is a five-year high — meaning the majors are averaging significantly larger positions per round than at any point since the pullback began.

For startups in AI, geothermal and fusion, the message is that oil and gas corporates have returned as serious cheque-writers, not passive observers.

What comes next?

GCV will continue tracking the 61-company group each quarter. If oil prices hold and data centre demand keeps climbing, Q3 could mark the start of a sustained rearmament in energy corporate venturing rather than a one-off spike.

The test will come in the fourth-quarter numbers: whether the majors keep writing $4.6bn-scale cheques, or whether Q3 proves the peak of the rebound.