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

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

At the close of 2025, the global venture market is experiencing an investment boom in artificial intelligence and large 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 capital is concentrating in "mega rounds" – deep-tech companies and AI platforms, while the share of smaller deals is declining. This trend reflects a market recovery after the downturn in 2022 and indicates a tilt towards the most ambitious projects.

Tech Giants and Significant Investments

Major IT corporations are also actively increasing their spending on AI development. 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 has allocated $14.3 billion to Israeli startup Scale AI (a subsidiary of Superintelligence Labs) to accelerate the development of its own models. Meanwhile, Meta's revenue in Q3 increased by 26% (to $51 billion), confirming the effectiveness of its strategy. Such figures bolster investor confidence that large investments in AI will yield returns and elevate the company to new levels of efficiency.

Major AI Startup Rounds

In 2025, numerous startups raised record sums:

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

These deals demonstrate that investors are funneling resources into everything related to AI implementation – from new applications to hardware and software infrastructure. Startups capable of integrating artificial intelligence into key industries receive prioritized funding.

Robotics and Related Technologies

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

Apptronik (USA) – Developer of the humanoid robot "Apollo" in Austin, Texas. Raised over $400 million this year to adapt the robot for industrial tasks (automotive, electronics manufacturing, warehousing logistics).
Galaxy Bot (China) – Manufacturer of humanoid robots for household tasks and warehouse service. In June, raised $154 million to expand its production and enter new markets.
The Bot Co. (USA) – Startup led by former Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt. Aspires to create a universal "home robot." Closed a round at $150 million to scale household robot developments.
CMR Surgical (UK) – Developer of robotic systems for surgery. Raised $200 million in April for the global rollout of its medical robots.
ForSight Robotics (Israel) – Robotics startup focused on ophthalmology. In June, received $125 million for the development of systems for ophthalmic surgeries.
Neuralink (USA) – Elon Musk's neurointerface company, where robotic technologies are also actively used in operations. In May, raised $650 million, indirectly supporting the development of medical robots.

The growth in funding confirms a "golden age" of robotics: investors are willing 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 M&A and investments are also occurring:

Coinbase (USA) – The largest American cryptocurrency exchange is discussing the acquisition of BVNK, a startup specializing in stablecoin infrastructure, for approximately $2 billion. This is part of a strategy to diversify revenue and expand services in digital currencies.
Mastercard (USA) – International payment network is negotiating the purchase of crypto project Zerohash (infrastructure for stablecoins and blockchain) for $1.5–2 billion. Following the deal, Mastercard will become one of the largest investors in cryptocurrency infrastructure.
FAKTUS (France) – Fintech for construction SMEs. Raised around €56 million (a mix of equity and debt financing) from Lakestar, Foundamental, Insight, and FOST. The solution accelerates invoice payments by analyzing contracts and invoices in a matter of minutes.
Saturn Fintech (Austria) – Embedded finance platform for banks and fintechs. Closed Series A at €12.9 million from Singular to accelerate the launch of digital banking tools in Europe.
iPNOTE (Spain) – LegalTech with AI that optimizes patent and copyright management. Closed a seed round of approximately €0.857 million, aiming to reduce corporate costs for litigation and patent services.

These deals reflect the major players' desire to protect their positions in rapidly growing segments: from financial services to the crypto ecosystem. Investment continues in large scales (neobanks, API financing), while in cryptocurrencies, the market consolidates around specialized startups.

Environmental and Climate Technologies

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

Stardust Solutions (Israel) – A geoengineering project. Raised a record $60 million for developing a technology that sprays aerosols 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) – Manufacturer of bioplastics based on collagen. Raised £16 million to commercialize a skin substitute for fashion and automotive interiors (luxury brands in fashion-tech).
Hydgen (Germany) – Developer of compact installations for producing "green" hydrogen on-site. Closed a round at $5 million to deploy hydrogen generation and storage modules in heavy industry.
EnduroSat (Bulgaria) – A space startup. In October raised about $104 million for building a factory for the mass production of small satellites and expanding 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 growing as countries and corporations seek solutions to global problems.

European Startup Market

The European ecosystem remains active in several segments, although the rate of deals lags behind the USA. 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 growing due to large deals with companies that have become industry leaders.

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 about ~$1.3 million. This indicates a recovery in activity and investor confidence.
Key areas: artificial intelligence, DeepTech, 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 international market entry: Government and corporate initiatives (accelerators, grants, tax incentives) are stimulating startup development. Many projects aim for export – for instance, multimedia management systems and industrial applications are already entering foreign markets, facilitating the integration of Russian venture into the global ecosystem.

Future and Market Prospects

The overall backdrop of venture investments highlights that artificial intelligence remains the main driver of the market. According to analysts, as of the start of 2025, investments in AI startups have surpassed $160 billion and could exceed $200 billion by the end of the year, concentrating capital around leading projects (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, etc.) with a combined valuation of around one trillion dollars. This indicates a high concentration of resources in a few large companies.

At the same time, experts warn of the dangers of overheating: valuations for many tech companies are already very high, and nearly half of surveyed investors see signs of a "bubble" in the AI market. For sustainable growth, it is crucial that all investments translate 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 indeed yield additional revenues and strengthen companies' positions.