Startup and Venture Investment News for Thursday, November 20, 2025: Return of Mega Funds, Giant AI Rounds, IPO Renaissance, M&A Wave, Resurgence of Interest in Crypto Startups, and New Unicorns. A Comprehensive Overview for Venture Investors and Funds.
As of late November 2025, the global venture capital market shows a robust recovery following the downturn of recent years. According to industry analysis, the total volume of venture investment in Q3 2025 reached approximately $97 billion—nearly 38% higher than the previous year and the best quarterly figure since 2021. The prolonged period of "venture winter" from 2022 to 2023 is behind us, with private capital flowing significantly faster into tech startups. Major funding rounds and the launch of new mega funds signal a return of risk appetite among investors, although they remain selective and cautious in their investments.
The surge in venture activity spans almost all regions of the world. The US continues to lead (especially in the rapidly evolving AI segment), investment volumes in the Middle East have nearly doubled over the year, and for the first time in a decade, Germany has outperformed the UK in total venture capital in Europe. In Asia, the booming rise in India and Southeast Asia compensates for a relative decline in China, while tech hubs are also emerging in Africa and Latin America. The startup ecosystems in Russia and the CIS countries are also striving to keep pace despite external constraints. Overall, the global market is gaining strength, though investors continue to favor the most promising and resilient projects.
- Return of Mega Funds and Large Capital. Leading venture players are forming record funds and once again pouring substantial capital into the market, fueling risk appetite.
- Record Rounds in AI and New Generation of Unicorns. Mega funding rounds in artificial intelligence are inflating company valuations and spawning a wave of new "unicorns"—startups valued at over $1 billion.
- Revival of the IPO Market. Successful public offerings of tech companies and new listing applications confirm that the long-awaited "window" for exits has reopened.
- Diversification of Sector Focus. Venture capital is not only directed into AI but also into fintech, climate projects, biotechnology, space, and defense developments—investment horizons are expanding.
- Wave of Consolidation and M&A. Major mergers and acquisitions reshape the industry landscape, creating new opportunities for profitable exits and accelerated growth for companies.
- Resurgence of Interest in Crypto Startups. After an extended "crypto winter," blockchain projects are once again attracting significant funding and attention from venture funds and corporations.
- Local Focus. New funds and programs for the development of local startups are being launched in Russia and neighboring countries, gradually attracting investor interest despite geopolitical constraints.
Return of Mega Funds: Big Money Back in the Market
The largest investment funds and institutional players are re-entering the venture arena—a clear indication of a new wave of appetite for risky investments. Following a decline in VC fundraising during 2022-2024, leading firms are resuming capital raising while launching megafunds, demonstrating confidence in market prospects. For instance, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is forming its third Vision Fund with a volume of around $40 billion, focused on cutting-edge technologies (including artificial intelligence and robotics). In the US, Andreessen Horowitz is gathering a record-sized venture fund—around $20 billion—emphasizing investments in late rounds of AI startups. Sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf countries are also becoming active, pouring billions into high-tech projects and developing their own tech hubs.
Simultaneously, dozens of new venture funds are emerging in various regions, attracting significant institutional capital for investments in tech companies. The return of such large-scale "megastuctures" means that startups have more opportunities to secure funding for growth, while competition among investors for the best deals intensifies significantly.
Record Investments in AI: A New Wave of Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector has become the main driver of the current venture uptick, demonstrating record financing volumes. Estimates suggest that about half of all venture capital raised in 2025 is directed towards AI companies. Global investments in artificial intelligence this year are expected to surpass $200 billion—an unprecedented level for the industry. This excitement can be attributed to AI technologies promising to drastically enhance efficiency across multiple sectors—ranging from industrial automation and transportation to personal digital assistants—opening up multi-trillion-dollar new markets. Despite concerns about market overheating, funds continue to ramp up investments, fearing missing out on the next technological revolution.
This unprecedented capital influx is coupled with its concentration among market leaders. The lion's share of funds is being directed toward a select few companies poised to become defining players in the new AI era. For instance, California-based startup OpenAI has raised around $13 billion in total funding, French company Mistral AI secured about $2 billion, and Jeff Bezos's new project Project Prometheus launched with initial capital of $6.2 billion. Such mega rounds sharply increase valuations for these companies, creating a new cohort of "super-unicorns." While these deals inflate valuations and fuel discussions of a bubble, they also concentrate massive resources on the most promising directions, laying the groundwork for future breakthroughs. In recent weeks, dozens of companies worldwide have announced substantial rounds—among them, the UK platform Synthesia (which raised $200 million at a ~$4 billion valuation to develop AI-based video generation technology) and the American cybersecurity developer Armis (which secured $435 million in a pre-IPO round at a $6.1 billion valuation).
Revival of the IPO Market: The Exit Window is Open Again
Against the backdrop of rising valuations and capital influx, tech companies are actively preparing to go public again. Following nearly two years of stagnation, there is a noticeable surge in IPOs as a key mechanism for venture investors' exits. A series of successful public offerings in 2025 has confirmed the opening of a "window of opportunity" for exits. For example, in the US, the number of IPOs since the beginning of the year has already exceeded 300, representing a significant percentage increase compared to 2024, with shares of several debutants showing strong growth. Positive signals are also emerging in developing markets: the Indian edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah went public in November with an impressive stock price rise of over 30% on its first trading day, serving as an encouraging indicator for the entire edtech sector.
The success of recent listings is restoring investor confidence that the market can absorb new tech issuers. Following these initial "bellwethers," several large private firms have announced IPO plans to take advantage of the favorable market conditions. Even giants like OpenAI are considering a public offering in 2026 with a potential valuation in the hundreds of billions—should that occur, it would be an unprecedented event for the venture industry. Overall, the revival of the IPO market expands horizons for investment exits, facilitating capital return for venture funds and stimulating a new cycle of investments in startups.
Diversification of Industries: Investment Horizons Are Expanding
In 2025, venture investments are covering a significantly wider range of sectors and are no longer confined to artificial intelligence alone. Following last year's downturn, the fintech sector has seen a noticeable resurgence, with new fintech startups attracting large rounds, particularly in payment systems and decentralized finance. There is also strong growth in climate and "green" technologies amid a global demand for sustainable development—investors are pouring funds into projects ranging from renewable energy to carbon capture technologies.
Additionally, interest in biotechnology and medtech is returning: large funds, especially in Europe, are forming specialized funds to support pharmaceutical and medical startups. Space technologies and defense-related projects are also garnering more attention—geopolitical factors and breakthroughs in private space exploration are stimulating investment in satellite constellations, rocket construction, unmanned systems, and defense AI solutions. Thus, the focus of venture capital investment has significantly broadened, enhancing market resilience—even if the hype around AI slightly subsides, other sectors are ready to carry the torch of innovation.
Wave of Consolidation and M&A: The Industry Is Being Restructured
High startup valuations and intensifying competition are prompting companies to seek synergy through mergers and acquisitions. A new wave of consolidation has emerged in 2025: major tech corporations are actively pursuing acquisitions again, and mature startups are merging to strengthen their market positions. These deals are reshaping the industry landscape, enabling the formation of more resilient business models and providing much-awaited exits for investors.
In recent months, several notable M&A transactions have attracted the attention of the venture community. For instance, American IT giant Cisco announced the acquisition of an AI translation startup, integrating new technologies into its products. Other corporations are also keeping pace: strategic investors from finance and industry sectors are acquiring promising fintech and IoT companies, aiming to gain access to their developments and customer bases. Simultaneously, some unicorns prefer to merge among themselves or sell to larger players to collectively overcome rising costs and accelerate scaling. For venture funds, this wave of consolidation opens new exit pathways—successful M&A often yields tangible profits and confirms the viability of invested business models.
Resurgence of Interest in Crypto Startups: The Market Awakens After the "Crypto Winter"
Following an extended decline in interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects—the so-called "crypto winter"—the situation began to shift in 2025. Venture investments in crypto startups have seen a significant increase: estimates suggest that the total funding volume for blockchain projects this year surpassed $20 billion, more than twice that of 2024. Investors are once again showing interest in infrastructure solutions for the crypto market, decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain platforms, and Web3 applications.
Major Silicon Valley funds and even conservative players are re-entering this segment. In recent weeks, several crypto and DeFi startups have secured funding rounds from prominent investors. For example, the venture division of broker Robinhood and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund participated in funding promising blockchain platforms. By the close of the year, the volume of venture investment in cryptocurrency projects may approach a record $25 billion. This indicates that the industry is experiencing a kind of renaissance: following a market cleansing of speculation, the focus has shifted to real use cases for blockchain, attracting "smart money." Consequently, several crypto startups are once again vying for unicorn status, while some trading and infrastructure projects have already reached billion-dollar valuations.
Local Focus: Russia and the CIS
Despite global restrictions, active steps are being taken in Russia and neighboring countries to develop local startup ecosystems. Government and private institutions are launching new funds and initiatives aimed at supporting early-stage tech projects. In particular, the authorities of St. Petersburg discussed the creation of a city venture fund in November to finance promising high-tech companies—similar to what was achieved in the Republic of Tatarstan with a fund of 15 billion rubles. Additionally, large corporations and banks in the region are increasingly acting as investors and mentors for startups, developing corporate accelerators and venture divisions.
Alongside government efforts, the entrepreneur community is visibly energizing. International tech forums and summits (such as the recent Moscow AI Journey 2025) are drawing attention to local innovations and establishing bridges between Russian developers and global investors. All of this is happening against the backdrop of a drive for technological sovereignty—local startups are adapting to new conditions and seeking niches where they can compete on a global level. Gradually, investor interest in the region is returning: initial cases of successful funding rounds and exits are emerging even in the current challenging conditions. Thus, the local market is striving to keep pace with global trends, laying the groundwork for future growth and integration into the global startup ecosystem.
