Founders who lean hardest into AI are raising more money and hiring more people. They're also feeling better about their business than everyone else. The gap is getting harder to ignore.
That's the core finding in a new Mercury survey of 1,500 early-stage founders and builders. AI adoption isn't just changing how startups operate, it's rewriting their basic economics.
The Confidence Gap
Eighty-four percent of founders reported improved confidence in their business prospects year over year. Among significant AI adopters, that number jumped to 91%, versus 60% for non-adopters.
Forty percent of heavy AI users said inflation actually helped their business. Just 12% of non-adopters said the same.
Where the Funding Actually Went
Venture capital got harder to access for nearly everyone this year. Self-funding was the only capital source that grew, climbing from 61% to 65% of founders overall.
That squeeze wasn't distributed evenly. Significant AI adopters were more than four times as likely to have raised venture capital as non-adopters, 31% versus 7%.
When AI adopters did raise, they raised bigger. They were twice as likely as non-adopters to bring in at least $1 million in a single round.
AI Costs Are Real, and Rising
Seventy-seven percent of founders said their AI and token spend increased over the past year. Most saw costs climb 25% to 50%.
Still, 85% said their AI tools delivered better returns than traditional alternatives. Sixty-five percent are at least somewhat worried that a single AI vendor's pricing or policy change could seriously harm their business.
AI Is Making Founders, Not Just Helping Them
Fifty-seven percent of respondents said AI's availability played a role in a specific decision. It's the decision to leave a previous job and start their current company.
Among founders running $10 million-plus companies, 31% said AI made starting the business possible at all. Ninety-five percent of all respondents said their company uses AI agents in some form.
Companies going deepest on AI are hiring more too, not less. Fifty-six percent of AI-adopting companies say they're hiring more because of it, not fewer.
Where Miami's Own Funding Gap Shows Up
Miami Angels, a network of more than 150 investors, backs exactly the kind of early-stage founder this survey describes. Those are the ones weighing self-funding against a tightening venture market.
The survey's national numbers describe a two-track startup economy splitting further apart by the month. For Miami's own angel and founder community, that split isn't abstract. It's the exact gap local investors are being asked to fund into.