Startup and Venture Capital News November 7, 2025 — Mega Funds, Record AI Rounds, and New Unicorns
The global venture sector is witnessing a robust revival. Large deals and the launch of new mega funds indicate a renewed appetite for risk among investors. While startups in the artificial intelligence sector remain in focus, significant capital is also being attracted to projects across other industries—from healthcare to automotive technologies. Let's take a look at the key news and trends in the venture market as of Friday, November 7, 2025.
Global Venture Capital Market: Investment Recovery
Following a downturn in recent years, the venture market is showing signs of growth. In the third quarter of 2025, the total volume of global investments in startups rose by approximately 38% year-over-year, reaching around $97 billion—levels unseen since 2022. Below are the key metrics reflecting this trend:
- Growth of Large Rounds: Mega rounds of over $500 million have once again become a significant portion of the market, accounting for about one-third of all investments in Q3.
- Capital Concentration: Almost half of all venture investments (≈46% in Q3) were in companies related to artificial intelligence.
- Late-Stage Activity: Investments in late-stage startups grew by more than 60% year-over-year, while early-stage funding saw a growth of around 10%.
Thus, over the past year, venture capital is steadily returning to the market. Large investments are concentrated in the most promising sectors, though funding for young projects is also gradually increasing. Investors are showing a willingness to invest large sums again, especially in leaders of their industries.
AI Investment Boom
The artificial intelligence sector continues to attract record amounts of funding. AI startups are raising rounds of unprecedented scale. In just the third quarter, three of the largest global deals were for AI companies—US-based Anthropic secured about $13 billion, Elon Musk's xAI raised $5.3 billion, and French startup Mistral AI attracted around $2 billion. Investors are eager to stake their claims in the AI race, directing capital toward both model developers and applied AI services.
A notable example of a new round underscoring the excitement around AI is the startup Hippocratic AI, which combines medical technology with generative AI. This week, the company raised $126 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion. This round, led by Avenir Growth with participation from CapitalG (Google), General Catalyst, a16z, and Kleiner Perkins, nearly doubled Hippocratic AI's valuation since the beginning of the year. This confirms the trend: investors are willing to value AI-oriented companies in the billions of dollars for rapid growth and prospects of revolutionizing industries.
Furthermore, the excitement encompasses not only neural network developers but also infrastructural projects in the AI realm. For instance, the startup Vast Data, which creates data storage systems for AI computing, signed a strategic agreement with cloud provider CoreWeave worth around $1.17 billion. This multi-year contract will provide Vast with stable revenue and underscore the growing demand for infrastructure to support generative AI. Such deals empower companies “under the hood” of the AI sector, providing them with a robust impetus for scaling. Overall, the investment boom in artificial intelligence continues across the entire stack—from applied services and models to chips and cloud platforms.
Healthcare and New Unicorns
Beyond purely digital sectors, significant capital is flowing into biomedicine and healthcare, which became the third largest sector for venture investments in the last quarter (~$15.8 billion). This past week, several major deals confirmed the attractiveness of medtech for investors. The American medical startup Forward Health, specializing in preventive primary care, raised $225 million in a Series D round from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Founders Fund. This investment propelled Forward's valuation above $1 billion, making it one of the new unicorns in the market. The company, offering clients personalized health programs based on biometric screening and tests, has gained traction due to the trend toward preventive medicine post-pandemic. Capital from SoftBank and other investors will enable Forward to expand its clinics across the U.S. and launch new service lines (cardiology programs, cancer screenings, stress management, etc.).
Overall, investors continue to actively support healthcare technologies, especially at the intersection with AI. Besides Forward, several other medtech startups have secured substantial venture capital funding this year. This interest is explained by a sustained demand for remote and personalized medical services that emerged during the post-pandemic period. The success of companies like Forward and Hippocratic AI confirms that health innovations remain a priority for venture funds, with new unicorns in this field attracting attention from the global investment community.
Diverse Deals: Auto Tech, Robotics, and Fintech
Beyond AI and biomedicine, venture investments are also encompassing a wide range of sectors. The week saw significant deals across various fields:
- Automotive Technologies and Mobility: The European startup Spotawheel, which offers a subscription model for used cars, raised €300 million (a mix of equity and debt) for expansion into new markets. This Greek project aims to scale its approach to vehicle sales and leasing through subscriptions, with fresh investment acting as a growth driver in the transportation market.
- B2B Services (SaaS): News from Silicon Valley announced the launch of the startup Reevo, which plans to unify disparate sales and marketing tools into a single AI-based platform. As it emerged from "stealth mode," Reevo secured an unprecedented $80 million in seed funding, co-invested by major funds Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins. This scale of the initial round signals high confidence among investors in the prospects of this new revenue management model for B2B companies.
- Robotics: The hardware segment is also seeing record rounds. The California-based startup Figure, developing humanoid robots for work and household tasks, has raised over $1 billion in investments this year, soaring to a valuation of around $39 billion. This capital will allow Figure to scale robotics production and approach the commercial deployment of humanoid robots, demonstrating that the interest of venture funds extends to deep technological innovations.
Additionally, activity remains strong in other niches. Fintech companies collectively received around $12 billion in global investments in Q3 2025 (ranking fourth among sectors)—despite the decline in hype, the fintech sector still captures significant capital, especially for sustainable business models in payments and finance. Climate-oriented businesses are also gaining traction: startups in renewable energy, energy storage, and sustainable technologies continue to attract funding amid increased attention to the ESG agenda. Thus, beyond the dominance of AI, venture funding is being diversified across various sectors—from transportation services to industrial innovations, highlighting the diverse growth points on the startup scene.
Largest Venture Funds Expand Capabilities
The capital flow into startups is supported not only by individual deals but also by the emergence of new venture funds of record size. This week, it was announced that Silicon Valley fund TCV raised $4 billion for its latest (11th) fund—the largest in the firm’s 25-year history. This indicates that leading players in the venture market are amassing “dry powder” for investments in the coming years. TCV plans to actively deploy these funds in promising segments—from fintech and edtech to digital entertainment—doubling down on its most successful areas within its portfolio.
Growth is also visible among specialized funds. For instance, the American firm CMT Digital recently closed a crypto-focused fund of $136 million for investments in blockchain startups—signaling that even amid market volatility, specialized venture players are eager to support this sector. Simultaneously, in Africa, one of the continent's most active investors, the Ventures Platform fund from Nigeria, is approaching its final round of raising $75 million for its second fund—reinforcing the global nature of venture expansion. Such examples indicate that capital is forming worldwide, aimed at a new wave of startups. Large new funds—from global mega-funds to regional and sector-specific funds—will supply significant resources to the startup ecosystem and create competition among investors for the best deals.
Corporations as Investors: Alliances and Strategic Deals
Another notable trend is the growing role of large tech corporations in the venture ecosystem. Instead of direct acquisitions, industry giants are increasingly partnering with startups or becoming minority investors to not miss out on new technologies. A noteworthy case is Snap Inc. (owner of Snapchat) striking a $400 million deal with AI startup Perplexity AI. Under the agreement, Snapchat will integrate Perplexity's AI-based search engine into its chatbot My AI, while the startup will provide Snap with a combination of cash and equity for its services. For Perplexity, this alliance opens access to Snapchat’s multi-million audience, and for Snap, it strengthens its position in the social media race for AI functionality. The market reacted positively; Snap’s stock surged following the news, reflecting investor trust in such strategic moves.
Corporations are actively investing in cutting-edge startups, particularly in the AI sector. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and other tech giants have poured billions into young companies over the last two years. For example, Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI is now valued significantly higher than its initial investment and is strategically important for its cloud business. In 2023-2024, Amazon committed to invest up to $8 billion in AI model developer Anthropic, while Google has supported various initiatives from vertical AI solutions to quantum startups. Concurrently, the industrial corporate sector is ramping up venture activity; analytics show that the number of deals involving corporate venture divisions significantly increased this fall. Corporations show particular interest in robotics, drones, autonomous transport, and other areas that can bolster their core business. This synergy between large companies and startups is beneficial for both sides: corporations gain early access to innovations, while startups enjoy a scale of resources and market entry.
Exits and IPO Prospects
After a lull in 2022-2024, the exit market is also beginning to revive, which is crucial for the venture ecosystem. In the third quarter of 2025, an increase in the number of significant IPOs and exits was observed. Among the most significant exits during this period are the IPO of Chinese automaker Chery Automobile (which became public with one of the year's largest valuations), the multi-billion sale of American design service Figma to Adobe, and the preparations for IPOs of several well-known unicorns, including Swedish fintech giant Klarna and California-based cybersecurity firm Netskope, which are reportedly seriously considering going public in the near future. The successful stories of these companies instill hope among market participants that the “IPO window” is gradually opening.
Notably, companies at the infrastructural level from the AI sector are also poised to go public. For instance, the cloud startup CoreWeave, which provides access to GPUs for AI workloads, conducted its IPO in March 2025, demonstrating investor readiness to support businesses related to the AI boom even on public platforms. At the same time, investors and analysts emphasize that for a new wave of IPOs to be sustainable, startups must demonstrate healthy finances. Unlike the previous period of hype, the focus is now on profitability and predictable growth. Only those unicorns that have proven their business models and can generate stable revenue can expect a warm welcome on the stock market. This more measured approach indicates that not all high-profile startups will rush to access public capital, but rather the most high-quality and prepared players will lead the way, setting the tone.
If current trends persist, 2026 can be expected to see a gradual increase in IPO and M&A activity. Successful exits will not only generate returns for venture investors but will also reinvigorate significant capital for new rounds and funds. Thus, the revival of exits completes a positive cycle in the venture market: from investment growth—to startup scaling—and finally to long-awaited liquidity events that reaffirm the value of the companies created.
