The Global Venture Market Recovers: Record Investments in AI, Rising IPOs, and Increased Interest in Defense Technologies. Key Events and Trends in the Startup Industry as of October 27, 2025.
By the end of October 2025, the global venture capital market continues to exhibit strong growth following a few years of decline. Investors worldwide are actively funding technology startups again: record deals are being made, companies’ IPO plans are becoming relevant once more, and major players are returning to the market with significant investments. Governments in various countries are enhancing support for innovation, stimulating the flow of private capital into startup ecosystems, and setting a new impetus for industry growth. According to industry analysts, in the third quarter of 2025, total global venture investment rose by nearly 40% year-over-year, clearly indicating a return of risk appetite.
Venture activity is increasing across all regions. The U.S. continues to lead (with the artificial intelligence sector experiencing particularly rapid growth), the Middle East has nearly doubled its investment volume over the year, and Europe has seen a reshuffling: for the first time in a decade, Germany has overtaken the United Kingdom in terms of venture funding. In Asia, regulatory uncertainties persist, causing a decline in activity in China, while India, Southeast Asia, and Gulf countries are attracting record capital flows. The investment boom is reaching new horizons: tech hubs are emerging in Africa and Latin America (recently, the largest investment of about $100 million in the electric mobility sector was made in the African market). The startup ecosystems in Russia and CIS countries are also striving not to lag behind, despite external challenges. There is a clear global venture upswing, although investors continue to act selectively and cautiously.
Below are key events and trends in the venture market as of October 27, 2025:
- Return of Mega Funds and Large Investors. Leading venture funds are attracting record amounts of capital and sharply increasing their investments, injecting liquidity into the market and boosting risk appetite.
- Record Investment Rounds in AI and a New Wave of Unicorns. Exceptionally large investments in AI startups are driving company valuations to unprecedented heights and spawning a new generation of unicorns.
- Revival of the IPO Market. Successful IPOs of tech companies and new listing applications indicate that the long-awaited "window" for exits has reopened.
- Defense Technology Boom. The geopolitical climate is generating increased interest in defense and security startups, bringing them to the forefront of the venture agenda.
- Diversification of Sector Focus. Venture capital is flowing not only into AI but also into fintech, climate ("green") projects, biotechnology, and even crypto startups.
- Wave of Consolidation: M&A Deals. Major mergers and acquisitions are reshaping the industry's landscape, creating new opportunities for profitable exits and accelerated growth of companies.
- Local Focus: Russia and the CIS. New funds and programs are being launched in the region to develop local startup ecosystems, attracting investor interest despite external limitations.
- Cautious Optimism from Investors. The market is experiencing a resurgence; however, participants are approaching project evaluations judiciously and avoiding excessive risk.
The Return of Mega Funds: Big Money Back in the Market
The largest investment players are making a triumphant return to the venture scene, marking a new cycle of increased risk appetite. For instance, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has made one of the year's most significant bets, investing tens of billions of dollars in a leading artificial intelligence player. Sovereign funds from wealthy Gulf countries are also significantly ramping up their activity: they are injecting billions into technology projects and launching government mega-programs to support the startup sector, thus creating their own tech hubs in the Middle East. Concurrently, new venture funds are being established worldwide, attracting substantial institutional capital for investments in high-tech sectors.
Renowned Silicon Valley funds have amassed record reserves of uninvested capital ("dry powder") — hundreds of billions of dollars are ready to be deployed once market confidence is restored. The influx of such "big money" intensifies competition for the best deals while simultaneously instilling confidence in the industry regarding capital availability. The return of mega funds demonstrates that investors are once again willing to finance ambitious projects with large checks, reinstating growth momentum in the venture market.
Record Investments in AI and New Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector remains the primary driver of the current venture boom, showcasing unprecedented financing volumes. Investors are eager to secure positions among AI leaders, directing colossal funds to the most promising projects. In just the past few weeks, several mega rounds have been announced: for instance, the American startup Crusoe, which is building data center infrastructure for AI models, raised about $1.38 billion at a valuation of approximately $10 billion. Significant rounds were also closed by developers of foundational AI models: Anthropic (around $13 billion in investments) and xAI (approximately $5.3 billion). These deals are driving company valuations to unprecedented heights and underscore the excitement around AI startups.
Furthermore, investors are funding not only applied AI products but also infrastructure solutions—the market is willing to generously pay for even the "picks and shovels" of the new "gold rush" in AI. As a result, this current investment boom is generating an array of new unicorns (private companies valued at over $1 billion). Although some experts caution about the overheating risk of individual projects, the appetite for venture capital in AI startups remains extraordinarily high. Moreover, capital in the market is concentrating around larger rounds: according to Crunchbase, in 2025, around 70% of all investments in American startups were allocated to deals of $100 million or more, and globally, the share of such mega-rounds reached about 60%. Investors are increasingly betting on a limited circle of the most promising companies, preferring to invest large sums in leaders with breakthrough technologies and scalable business models.
The IPO Market Revives: A Wave of Public Offerings
The global market for initial public offerings is emerging from a prolonged lull and is once again gaining momentum. In Asia, Hong Kong leads the new wave of tech IPOs: in recent months, several major companies have successfully listed on the local exchange, collectively raising billions in investment. The situation in the U.S. and Europe is also improving: several high-valued startups have successfully debuted on the stock market, drawing significant investor interest and a solid rise in stock prices in the early days of trading. Below are the largest venture IPOs of the third quarter of 2025:
- Chery Automobile — a Chinese automaker whose valuation at IPO became one of the highest of the year.
- Figma — an American design platform that listed shares with a valuation of around $15–20 billion.
- Klarna — a Swedish fintech unicorn (buy now, pay later service) that successfully went public.
- Netskope — an American cybersecurity company that completed its listing with a multi-billion evaluation.
Even the crypto industry is trying to take advantage of the improved conditions. The fintech company Circle successfully conducted an IPO last summer (its market capitalization rose significantly after going public), while the cryptocurrency exchange Bullish has filed for a U.S. listing with a target valuation of about $4 billion. The resurgence of activity in the IPO market is vital for the venture ecosystem: successful public exits allow funds to book profits, return capital to investors, and redirect freed-up resources to support new projects.
Defense Technology Boom: A New Priority for Investors
Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions, the niche of defense and military technology startups is rapidly developing. Venture investors are actively funding projects related to defense and security, and the volume of investments in this sector in 2025 has significantly increased, approaching record levels of past years. In Europe alone, analysts estimate that investments in defense and security startups will surpass $8 billion this year (compared to approximately $5.4 billion in 2024). Startups developing defense technologies are coming to the forefront as a new growth opportunity for the industry.
New "upstart" players are also emerging, challenging traditional defense giants. A striking example is the American startup Anduril, which is valued at around $30 billion. Major venture funds are directing significant resources towards national security projects, confirming the establishment of a new priority for the industry. Despite remaining barriers, investing in defense technologies is increasingly being seen as a promising and socially significant direction, supported by both private and public capital.
Diversification of Investments: Not Just AI
Despite the dominance of the artificial intelligence agenda, venture investments are spanning an increasingly broad array of industries and are no longer limited to AI alone. Following last year's downturn, fintech is regaining momentum: major rounds are occurring not only in the U.S. but also in Europe and emerging markets, spurring growth in new digital financial services. Simultaneously, there’s a sharp rise in interest in climate and "green" technologies: projects in renewable energy, sustainable solutions, and agri-tech are attracting record investments amid the global trend toward sustainability. According to analysts, global climate startups raised over $56 billion in investments in the first nine months of 2025—surpassing the total for the entire year of 2024.
Investors are also regaining their appetite for biotechnology, particularly in pharmaceuticals and digital health: the emergence of promising developments and platforms is once again attracting capital as the industry gradually emerges from a phase of falling valuations. Additionally, heightened attention to safety is leading investors back to the defense technology sector, while a partial restoration of trust in the cryptocurrency market has allowed some blockchain projects to secure funding once again. Thus, the expansion of sector focus is making the entire startup ecosystem more resilient and reducing the risk of overheating in individual segments. Investors are willing to support not only AI projects but also fintech innovators, green startups, biotech companies, and other promising directions.
Market Consolidation and M&A Deals
High valuations of startups and intense competition are driving a wave of consolidation in the industry. Major mergers and acquisitions are once again coming to the forefront, redistributing roles in the market as technology giants keenly eye the leaders among startups, seeking to acquire critical technologies and teams.
In recent months, several high-profile acquisitions have drawn industry attention. For example, Google has agreed to acquire Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $32 billion—a record amount for the Israeli market. There's also an increase in strategic purchases: in the first half of 2025, the total volume of startup acquisitions exceeded $100 billion (an increase of 155% compared to the previous year), as major companies are willing to write large checks for promising assets, especially in the realms of AI and corporate technologies. Consolidation is also occurring within the venture sector itself: for instance, investment bank Goldman Sachs has announced the acquisition of venture firm Industry Ventures for nearly $1 billion, highlighting the growing interconnection between traditional finance and the startup world.
Overall, the uptick in M&A deals indicates the maturation of the ecosystem. Mature startups are either merging with one another or becoming acquisition targets for corporations, providing venture investors with long-awaited profitable exits and accelerating innovation scaling.
Russia and the CIS: New Funds and Initiatives
Despite external limitations, there is a revival of startup activity in Russia and neighboring countries, with systematic efforts underway to develop the local ecosystem. In 2025, several new venture funds have been announced:
- Nova Capital — a fund with a volume of 10 billion rubles for investments in early-stage IT startups.
- Kama Flow — a new fund of comparable size aimed at supporting later-stage projects.
- Corporate Funds — a number of major corporations and banks are also forming their own venture divisions focused on domestic technology projects.
In addition to financing, accelerators, educational programs, and other initiatives are being launched in the region to support entrepreneurs. Local startups are beginning to attract attention not only from Russian investors but also from foreign partners from friendly nations, as direct foreign investment in local projects has been authorized again in Russia. Although the volumes of the venture market in Russia and the CIS still lag behind global leaders, the region is striving to keep pace with global trends. Investors here are acting selectively and focusing on niches where local teams possess competitive advantages.
Cautious Optimism and New Prospects
As we approach 2026, the startup and venture investment industry confidently enters a phase of revival. The global influx of capital, a wave of new unicorns, successful IPOs, and strategic deals signal a restoration of trust in the market. However, ecosystem participants maintain a degree of prudence: investors are more judicious in their project evaluations, favoring startups with sustainable business models and realistic growth plans while trying to avoid excessive risk.
This balanced approach fosters cautious optimism. The venture market is returning to growth on a more sustainable foundation without overheating in specific segments. This opens new opportunities for investors and founders worldwide—the market is developing qualitatively, creating a solid foundation for further expansion of the startup scene.
