Global Startup and Venture Capital News for November 26, 2025: The Return of Mega-Funds, Record Rounds in AI, IPO Market Revival, M&A Wave, Renewed Interest in Crypto Startups, and Emergence of New Unicorns. A Review for Venture Investors and Funds.
By the end of November 2025, the global venture capital market is confidently recovering after a prolonged downturn in recent years. According to industry analysts, the total volume of venture investments in the third quarter of 2025 reached around $97 billion — a 38% increase from the previous year, marking the best quarterly result since 2021. The protracted "venture winter" of 2022-2023 is behind us, and the influx of private capital into tech startups is noticeably accelerating. Significant funding rounds and the launch of new mega-funds indicate a return of investors' risk appetite, though they continue to prefer selective and cautious investments.
Venture activity is growing across nearly all regions of the world. The United States leads in the rapidly developing AI sector. Investment volumes in the Middle East have doubled over the year, while for the first time in a decade, Germany has outpaced the UK in total venture capital in Europe. In Asia, the robust growth in India and Southeast Asia compensates for a relative decline in China, and new tech hubs are emerging in Africa and Latin America. The startup ecosystems in Russia and the CIS are striving to keep pace despite external constraints. Overall, the global picture suggests the emergence of a venture capital boom, although investors continue to seek out the most promising and resilient projects.
- Return of Mega-Funds and Large Capital. Leading venture players are establishing record funds and once again actively investing significant sums into the market, filling the ecosystem with capital and rekindling the appetite for risk.
- Record Funding Rounds in AI and New Unicorns. Unprecedented investments are driving startup valuations to unseen heights, particularly in the artificial intelligence segment, leading to a new wave of companies considered "unicorns" (startups valued at over $1 billion).
- Revival of the IPO Market. Successful public offerings of tech unicorns and new applications confirm that the long-awaited "window" for exits remains open.
- Diversification of Industry Focus. Venture capital is being directed not only into AI but also into fintech, climate technologies, biotechnology, space, and defense projects, broadening market horizons.
- Wave of Consolidation and M&A Deals. Major mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments are reshaping the industry landscape, creating new opportunities for exits and scaling companies.
- Renewed Interest in Crypto Startups. Following a prolonged "crypto winter," blockchain projects are again attracting significant funding and interest from venture funds and corporations.
- Local Focus: Russia and the CIS. Despite constraints, new funds and initiatives are emerging to develop local startup ecosystems, drawing investors' attention to the region.
Return of Mega-Funds: Big Money Back in the Market
Leading investment players are triumphantly returning to the venture stage, signaling a new wave of risk appetite. After a decline in capital raising from 2022 to 2024, major funds are resuming fundraising and launching mega-funds, demonstrating confidence in the market's prospects. For example, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has announced the formation of its third Vision Fund, amounting to about $40 billion, aimed at investing in cutting-edge technologies (primarily in AI and robotics). In the U.S., the firm Andreessen Horowitz is raising a record-sized venture fund – approximately $20 billion – targeting late-stage investments in AI startups. Sovereign funds from Gulf countries have also become more active, pouring billions into high-tech projects and developing their own tech hubs in the region.
Simultaneously, dozens of new venture funds are emerging worldwide, attracting substantial institutional capital for investments in technology companies. American venture funds have accumulated an unprecedented reserve of "dry powder" — hundreds of billions of dollars in uninvested capital ready to be deployed. The reemergence of such large “mega-structures” means startups now have greater opportunities to secure funding for growth, and competition among investors for the best deals is intensifying significantly.
Record Investments in AI: A New Wave of Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector has become the main driver of the current venture boom, showcasing record inflows of capital. It is estimated that nearly half of all venture capital raised in 2025 is attributable to AI startups. Global investments in artificial intelligence this year could surpass $200 billion — an unprecedented level for the industry. The excitement surrounding AI is driven by the potential for these technologies to dramatically enhance efficiency across various sectors — from industrial automation and transportation to personal digital assistants — unlocking new markets worth trillions of dollars. Despite concerns over overheating, funds continue to ramp up investments, fearing they may miss the next technological revolution.
This unprecedented influx of capital is accompanied by its concentration among leaders. The lion's share of funds is directed at a limited number of companies poised to become defining players in the new AI era. For instance, the California-based startup OpenAI has raised approximately $13 billion, the French company Mistral AI around $2 billion, and Jeff Bezos's new project called Project Prometheus launches with an initial capital of $6.2 billion. Such mega-rounds significantly elevate these companies’ valuations, forming a new cohort of “super unicorns.” While such deals inflate multiples and fuel discussions of a bubble, they also concentrate vast resources on the most promising directions, laying the groundwork for future breakthroughs.
In recent weeks, dozens of companies worldwide have announced major rounds of funding. Among the most notable examples is the British platform Synthesia, which raised $200 million at a valuation of about $4 billion for the development of AI-based video generation technologies, and the American cybersecurity systems developer Armis, which secured $435 million ahead of its IPO at a valuation of $6.1 billion. These deals swiftly elevated both companies into the ranks of unicorns, vividly demonstrating how rapidly large-scale funding can transform a startup into a billion-dollar company.
Revival of the IPO Market: The Window for Exits Is Open Again
In the context of rising valuations and capital inflows, tech companies are once again actively preparing for public offerings. After nearly two years of inactivity, 2025 has seen a surge in IPOs as a key exit mechanism for venture investors. A series of successful public offerings of tech companies this year confirmed that the long-awaited "window of opportunity" for exits is indeed open. In the U.S., more than 300 IPOs have already occurred this year — significantly more than in 2024 — and stocks of several debutants have demonstrated robust growth. Positive signals are also evident in emerging markets: for instance, the Indian educational unicorn PhysicsWallah went public in November, and its stock soared over 30% on the first day of trading, which is an encouraging indicator for the entire EdTech sector.
The success of the latest offerings has restored confidence that the market can absorb a wave of new tech companies going public. Following the initial success stories, several large private companies have announced plans to conduct IPOs, eager to take advantage of the favorable conditions. Even giants like OpenAI are considering a public listing in 2026, with a potential valuation in the hundreds of billions of dollars — an unprecedented scenario for the venture industry if it materializes. Overall, the resurgence of the IPO market expands the horizons for exits, facilitating capital returns for funds and stimulating a new cycle of startup investments.
Diversification of Sectors: Expanding Investment Horizons
In 2025, venture investments are covering a much wider array of sectors and are no longer concentrated solely on AI. Following last year's decline, there has been a notable revival in fintech: new fintech startups are attracting large funding rounds, especially in payment systems and decentralized finance (DeFi). A vigorous growth trend is also observable in climate ("green") technologies in response to the global demand for sustainable development — investors are financing projects ranging from renewable energy to carbon capture technologies.
Interest in biotechnology and medtech is also returning: large funds, especially in Europe, are forming specialized instruments to support pharmaceutical and medical startups. Space and defense technologies are also coming to the forefront — geopolitical factors and the successes of private space companies are stimulating investments in satellite constellations, rocket building, drone systems, and military AI. As such, the industry focus of venture capital has significantly broadened, enhancing the market's resilience: even if the excitement around AI wanes, other sectors are ready to take up the mantle of innovation.
Wave of Consolidation and M&A: The Industry Is Changing Shape
High startup valuations and intensifying competition are prompting companies to seek synergy through mergers and acquisitions. In 2025, a new wave of consolidation has emerged: large tech corporations are once again actively pursuing acquisitions, while mature startups are merging to strengthen their positions. These transactions are reshaping the industry landscape, enabling more sustainable business models and providing investors with the long-awaited exits.
In recent months, several high-profile M&A deals have captured the attention of the venture community. For example, the American IT giant Cisco announced the acquisition of a startup specializing in AI translation, aiming to integrate its technologies into its product lineup. Other corporations are following suit: strategic investors from the financial and industrial sectors are acquiring promising fintech and IoT companies to gain access to their developments and customer bases. Simultaneously, some unicorns are choosing to merge with each other or sell to major players to jointly overcome rising costs and expedite scaling. For venture funds, this wave of consolidation opens new exit pathways — successful M&A deals often provide substantial profits and affirm the viability of invested business models.
Renewed Interest in Crypto Startups: The Market Awakens After the "Crypto Winter"
Following an extended decline in interest in cryptocurrency projects—known as the "crypto winter" – the situation began to change in 2025. Venture investments in crypto startups have risen significantly: the total volume of funding in blockchain projects this year has surpassed $20 billion, more than double that of 2024. Investors are once again showing interest in infrastructure solutions for the crypto market, decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain platforms, and Web3 applications.
Even the largest funds from Silicon Valley and previously conservative players are returning to this segment. In recent weeks, several crypto and DeFi startups have closed funding rounds with notable investors. For instance, the venture division of brokerage firm Robinhood and Founders Fund, led by Peter Thiel, participated in funding a promising blockchain platform. In one of the year's largest deals, American crypto exchange Kraken raised $800 million, achieving a valuation of about $20 billion. By the year's end, the volume of venture capital allocated to crypto projects may approach a record high of $25 billion. All of this signifies a sort of renaissance for the industry: following a market cleaning of speculation, the focus has shifted toward real blockchain use cases, attracting "smarter" money. Several crypto startups have again approached unicorn status, and some exchanges and infrastructure projects have already reached billion-dollar valuations.
Local Focus: Russia and the CIS
Despite external constraints, active steps are being taken in Russia and neighboring countries to develop local startup ecosystems. Both public and private institutions are launching new funds and programs aimed at supporting early-stage tech projects. For instance, the authorities in St. Petersburg discussed creating a city venture fund in November to finance promising high-tech companies—similarly to the Republic of Tatarstan, where a fund with a volume of 15 billion rubles is already operational. Additionally, large corporations and regional banks are increasingly playing the role of investors and mentors for startups, developing corporate accelerators and their own venture divisions.
Alongside governmental efforts, there is a noticeable revival in the entrepreneurial community. International technology forums and summits (such as the recent Moscow AI Journey 2025) are held, drawing attention to local innovations and building bridges between Russian developers and global investors. All these changes indicate that even under sanctions, the local venture scene continues to adapt and thrive. For investors, the region—when approached carefully concerning risks—offers new growth points as a potentially promising market for venture investments.
