From Meta, the metaverse giant, spending billions of dollars to acquire Manus, it’s clear that the funding scene in 2025 is already telling a story — choosing the right track can double your returns.

For entrepreneurs, a sense of direction is often more critical than other factors. A16z recently outlined some big ideas for 2026 that offer plenty of inspiration and are worth referencing.

There are several clear opportunities emerging in the infrastructure sector. Multimodal data processing is one — AI cannot stay in the pure dialogue stage; it needs to understand contract details, analyze surveillance footage, and comprehend business documents. The maturity of this capability will unlock many commercial scenarios.

The agent direction is also worth paying attention to. The application space for autonomous agents is still in its early stages, but the imagination is abundant. Founders with industry knowledge who get involved now will have a clear advantage in terms of technology and data.