Startup and Venture Investment News — Sunday, November 2, 2025: AI and Major Rounds

Global Startup and Venture Capital News for November 2, 2025: Major AI Rounds, New Funds, Robotics Growth, Climate Innovations, and Venture Market Outlook

At the end of 2025, the global venture market is experiencing a surge in investments in artificial intelligence and major funding rounds. By the end of Q3, the total investment in startups exceeded $90 billion, with nearly half of these funds directed towards AI projects. Analysts note that funding is concentrating in "mega-rounds" – deep-tech companies and AI platforms, while the share of smaller deals is declining. This trend reflects the market's recovery from the downturn in 2022 and indicates a shift towards the most ambitious projects.

Tech Giants and Major Investments

Major IT corporations are also ramping up their expenditures on AI development. For instance, Meta (formerly Facebook) announced that its capital expenditures on data centers and artificial intelligence in 2025 will reach $70-72 billion — a record amount that exceeds previous estimates. The company invested $14.3 billion in the Israeli startup Scale AI (a division of Superintelligence Labs) to accelerate the development of its own models. Furthermore, Meta's revenue in Q3 grew by 26% (to $51 billion), confirming the effectiveness of this strategy. Such results bolster investor confidence that substantial investments in AI will yield returns and elevate the company to a new level of efficiency.

Major AI Startup Rounds

In 2025, many startups attracted record amounts:

Poolside (France) – an AI-based platform assisting code developers. Reports indicate an upcoming round of up to $2 billion with participation from NVIDIA (up to $1 billion) based on preliminary agreements.
Fireworks AI (USA) – a cloud platform for AI inference (team of former PyTorch engineers). Closed Series C at $250 million with a valuation of around $4 billion to scale its infrastructure.
Synthesia (USA) – a video generation service with AI avatars for marketing and training. Attracted $200 million, reaching a valuation of approximately $4 billion while expanding its global reach for AI solutions.
Mem0 (USA) – a startup creating "memory" for AI agents. Closed a seed round at $24 million, reflecting investor interest in foundational architectures of future AI systems.
Grasp (Sweden) – a multi-agent AI platform for financial and consulting processes. Raised $7 million to develop products for the banking sector in Europe.

These deals showcase that investors are focusing on everything related to AI integration – from new applications to hardware and software infrastructure. Startups capable of integrating artificial intelligence into key industries are receiving priority funding.

Robotics and Related Technologies

Another notable trend is the rise in investments in robotics. In the first half of 2025, global robotics startups received about $6 billion in funding, placing this year on par with the record year of 2024. Among the largest rounds:

Apptronik (USA) – developer of the humanoid robot "Apollo" based in Austin, Texas. Raised over $400 million this year to adapt the robot for industrial tasks (automotive, electronics manufacturing, warehouse logistics).
Galaxy Bot (China) – a company producing humanoid robots for household tasks and warehouse service. In June, it raised $154 million to expand production and enter new markets.
The Bot Co. (USA) – a startup led by former Cruise executive Kyle Vogt. Aims to create a universal "home robot." Closed a round at $150 million to scale household robot developments.
CMR Surgical (UK) – developer of robotic surgical systems. Raised $200 million in April for the global deployment of its medical robots.
ForSight Robotics (Israel) – a robotics startup focused on ophthalmology. In June, it secured $125 million for developing systems for ophthalmic surgeries.
Neuralink (USA) – Elon Musk's neurointerface company, which also actively employs robotic technologies in surgeries. In May, it secured $650 million, indirectly supporting the development of medical robots.

The growth in funding reinforces the “golden era” of robotics: investors are inclined to invest in the automation of both industrial and medical processes, recognizing the potential of new solutions in hardware and software.

Crypto and Fintech: Strategic Deals

In the crypto segment and fintech, significant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and investments are also taking place:

Coinbase (USA) – the largest American cryptocurrency exchange is discussing the acquisition of the startup BVNK, specializing in stablecoin infrastructure, for around $2 billion. This is part of a strategy to diversify revenue and expand digital currency services.
Mastercard (USA) – the international payment network is negotiating to acquire the crypto project Zerohash (infrastructure for stablecoins and blockchain) for $1.5-2 billion. After the deal, Mastercard will become one of the largest investors in the cryptocurrency infrastructure.
FAKTUS (France) – a fintech for construction SMEs. Raised about €56 million (a combination of equity and debt financing) from Lakestar, Foundamental, Insight, and FOST. The solution accelerates bill payments by analyzing contracts and invoices in minutes.
Saturn Fintech (Austria) – an embedded finance platform for banks and fintechs. Closed a Series A at €12.9 million from Singular to expedite the launch of digital banking tools in Europe.
iPNOTE (Spain) – a LegalTech with AI optimizing patent and copyright management. Closed a seed round of about €0.857 million, aiming to reduce corporations' expenses on litigation and patent services.

These deals reflect the major players' ambitions to bolster their positions in rapidly growing segments: from financial services to the crypto ecosystem. Investments continue in large areas (neobanks, API financing), while the cryptocurrency market consolidates around specialized startups.

Environmental and Climate Technologies

Startups with a "green" focus are attracting significant capital:

Stardust Solutions (Israel) – a geoengineering project. Attracted a record $60 million for developing aerosol spraying technology in the stratosphere to reflect sunlight. The project has sparked discussions due to ethical and environmental risks but demonstrates investor interest in large-scale climate solutions.
PACT (UK) – a producer of collagen-based biomaterials. Secured £16 million for the commercialization of a leather alternative for fashion and automotive interiors (luxury brands in fashion-tech).
Hydgen (Germany) – developer of compact units for producing "green" hydrogen on-site. Closed a round at $5 million to roll out hydrogen generation and storage modules in heavy industry.
EnduroSat (Bulgaria) – a space startup. In October, secured approximately $104 million to establish a factory for the serial production of small satellites and expand launch services.

Venture capital is increasingly focusing on climate technologies and sustainable innovations. Investments in projects aimed at clean energy, emission reduction, and environmental monitoring are rising as countries and corporations seek solutions to global challenges.

The European Startup Market

The European ecosystem remains active in several segments, although deal-making rates lag behind those in the US. Major rounds include:

EnduroSat (Bulgaria) – see above ($104 million).
PACT (UK) – see above (£16 million).
Hydgen (Germany) – see above ($5 million).
Saturn Fintech (Austria) – see above (€12.9 million).
Grasp (Sweden) – see above ($7 million).
iPNOTE (Spain) – see above (€0.857 million).

European funds and startups are betting on fintech, deep-tech, and specialized AI solutions. Although new unicorns are emerging less frequently, the overall value of startup portfolios is increasing due to large deals with companies that have become leaders in the industry.

Russian Startups and the Venture Sector

Investment Volume: In the first six months of 2025, Russian startups attracted over $87 million (a ~90% increase compared to the same period last year), with the average check rising to ~$1.3 million. This indicates a recovery in activity and investor confidence.
Key Directions: artificial intelligence, deep tech, and green technologies. Experts note the success of projects in industrial IoT, environmental monitoring, and advanced AI algorithms. Local accelerators and development programs highlight AI platforms and breakthrough engineering solutions as new growth points.
Support and Entry into the International Market: Governmental and corporate initiatives (accelerators, grants, tax incentives) stimulate the development of startups. Many projects aim for export – for example, multimedia management systems and industrial applications are already entering foreign markets, facilitating the integration of Russian venture into the global ecosystem.

The Future and Prospects of the Market

The overarching backdrop of venture investments emphasizes that artificial intelligence remains the primary market driver. According to analysts, since the beginning of 2025, investments in AI startups have surpassed $160 billion and may exceed $200 billion by the year's end, concentrating capital around leading projects (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, etc.) with a cumulative valuation of approximately one trillion dollars. This reflects a high concentration of resources in a few major companies.

At the same time, experts warn of overheating risks: the valuations of many tech companies are already very high, and almost half of surveyed investors see signs of a "bubble" in the AI market. For sustainable growth, it is crucial that all investments convert into real products and profitable businesses. In the coming months, investors will closely monitor reports from major tech companies to ensure that aggressive investments in AI are indeed generating additional revenues and bolstering the companies' positions.