Global Startup and Venture Capital News for November 26, 2025: The Return of Mega Funds, Record Rounds in AI, Revitalization of the IPO Market, a Wave of M&A, Renewed Interest in Crypto Startups, and the 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 from the prolonged decline of recent years. According to industry analysts, the total volume of venture investments in the third quarter of 2025 reached approximately $97 billion—up 38% year-on-year and 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. Large funding rounds and the launch of new mega funds signal a return of investor appetite for risk, although investments are still being made selectively and cautiously.
Venture activity is growing across nearly all regions of the world. The United States leads the way, particularly in the rapidly evolving AI sector. Investment volume in the Middle East has doubled in the year, while in Europe, Germany has outpaced the UK in terms of total venture capital for the first time in a decade. In Asia, the booming growth in India and Southeast Asia offsets the relative decline in China, while new tech hubs are emerging in Africa and Latin America. Startup ecosystems in Russia and the CIS are also striving to keep pace despite external constraints. Overall, the global picture indicates the inception of a new venture boom, although investors are still favoring the most promising and resilient projects.
- The Return of Mega Funds and Large Capital. Leading venture players are creating record funds and actively injecting significant capital into the market, fueling the ecosystem and reigniting risk appetite.
- Record Funding Rounds in AI and New Unicorns. Unprecedented investments are driving valuations of startups to unseen heights, especially in the artificial intelligence segment, leading to a new wave of unicorn companies (startups valued over $1 billion).
- Revitalization of the IPO Market. Successful public listings of tech unicorns and new filings confirm the long-awaited "window" for exits remains open.
- Diversification of Sector Focus. Venture capital is flowing not only into AI but also into fintech, climate technologies, biotechnology, space, and defense projects, expanding market horizons.
- A Wave of Consolidation and M&A Deals. Major mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments are reshaping the industry landscape, opening new opportunities for exits and scaling companies.
- Renewed Interest in Crypto Startups. Following an extended period of "crypto winter," blockchain projects are once again attracting significant funding and attention from venture funds and corporations.
- Local Focus: Russia and the CIS. Despite constraints, new funds and initiatives are emerging to develop local startup ecosystems, attracting investor attention to the region.
The Return of Mega Funds: Big Money Back in the Market
The largest investment players are triumphantly returning to the venture arena, signaling a new wave of risk appetite. Following a decline in capital raising between 2022 and 2024, leading funds are resuming fundraising and launching mega funds, demonstrating confidence in market prospects. For instance, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has announced the formation of its third Vision Fund with a target of around $40 billion for investments in advanced technologies, primarily in AI and robotics. In the US, Andreessen Horowitz is shaping up to establish a record-sized venture fund—approximately $20 billion—focused on late-stage investments in AI startups. Sovereign funds from the Gulf states are also becoming active: they are 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 tech companies. American venture funds have amassed unprecedented reserves of "dry powder"—hundreds of billions of dollars in uninvested capital ready to be deployed. The return of such large "mega structures" means that startups have more opportunities to secure funding for growth while competition among investors for the best deals is intensifying.
Record Investments in AI: The New Wave of Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector has become the main driver of the current venture boom, showcasing a record inflow of funding. Estimates suggest that nearly half of all venture capital raised in 2025 will go to AI startups. Global investments in artificial intelligence this year could exceed $200 billion—a level unprecedented for the industry. The excitement around AI is attributed to the technology's potential to drastically improve efficiency across multiple sectors—from industrial automation and transportation to personal digital assistants—unlocking new markets worth trillions of dollars. Despite concerns about overheating, funds continue to ramp up investments, fearing they will miss out on the next technological revolution.
This unprecedented capital influx 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 example, California startup OpenAI has raised approximately $13 billion, French company Mistral AI around $2 billion, and Jeff Bezos's new venture, Project Prometheus, is launching with an initial capital of $6.2 billion. Such mega rounds dramatically increase these companies' valuations, creating a new cohort of "super unicorns." While these deals inflate multiples and fuel discussions of a bubble, they also concentrate vast resources on the most lucrative directions, laying the groundwork for future breakthroughs.
In recent weeks, dozens of companies worldwide have announced significant funding rounds. Among the most notable are British platform Synthesia, which raised $200 million with a valuation of around $4 billion for the development of AI video generation technologies, and American cybersecurity firm Armis, which secured $435 million ahead of its IPO with a valuation of $6.1 billion. These deals immediately elevated both companies to unicorn status, vividly illustrating how rapidly massive funding can transform a startup into a billion-dollar enterprise.
Revitalization of the IPO Market: The Window for Exits is Open Again
Against the backdrop of rising valuations and capital inflow, tech companies are once again actively preparing to go public. After nearly two years of dormancy, 2025 has seen a surge in IPOs as a key exit mechanism for venture investors. A series of successful initial public offerings of tech companies this year have confirmed that the long-awaited "window of opportunity" for exits is open. In the US, over 300 IPOs have already occurred since the start of the year—a significant increase from 2024—and shares of several debutants have shown solid growth. Positive signals are also visible in emerging markets: for instance, Indian educational unicorn PhysicsWallah went public in November, and its shares soared more than 30% on the first day of trading, a reassuring indicator for the entire EdTech sector.
The success of recent offerings restores confidence that the market can absorb a wave of new tech companies going public. Following the initial "canaries," several large private firms have announced plans for IPOs, eager to capitalize on favorable conditions. Even giants like OpenAI are contemplating a public offering in 2026 with a potential valuation in the hundreds of billions of dollars—an unprecedented case for the venture industry if it materializes. Overall, the revival of the IPO market expands investment exit horizons, facilitating capital returns for funds and stimulating a new cycle of investments in startups.
Diversification of Industries: Investment Horizons are Expanding
In 2025, venture investments are covering a much broader range of sectors and are no longer solely concentrated in AI. Following the downturn of the previous year, there is a marked revival in fintech: new fintech startups are attracting significant funding rounds, particularly in payment systems and decentralized finance (DeFi). There is also a vigorous growth observed in climate ("green") technologies in response to the global demand for sustainability—investors are funding projects from renewable energy to carbon capture technologies.
Interest in biotechnology and medtech is also returning: major funds, particularly 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 achievements of private space companies are stimulating investment in satellite constellations, rocket construction, drone systems, and military AI. Thus, the sector focus of venture capital has significantly broadened, enhancing market resilience: even if the excitement surrounding AI subsides, other sectors are ready to carry the baton of innovation.
A Wave of Consolidation and M&A: The Industry is Changing Shape
High valuations of startups and intensified competition are prompting companies to seek synergy through mergers and acquisitions. In 2025, a new wave of consolidation is emerging: major tech corporations are once again actively engaging in acquisitions, and mature startups are merging to strengthen their positions. These deals are reshaping the industry landscape, allowing for the establishment of more robust business models and providing investors with the long-awaited exits.
In recent months, several high-profile M&A deals have caught the attention of the venture community. For instance, American IT giant Cisco announced the acquisition of a startup specializing in AI translations to integrate its technology into its product line. Other corporations are not lagging behind: strategic investors from the financial and industrial sectors are snapping up promising fintech and IoT companies, aiming to gain access to their developments and client bases. Simultaneously, some unicorns prefer to merge with one another or sell to major players to collaboratively surmount rising costs and accelerate scaling. For venture funds, this wave of consolidation opens up new exit paths—successful M&A deals often provide significant returns and validate the viability of invested business models.
Renewed Interest in Crypto Startups: The Market Awakens After Crypto Winter
Following an extended decline in interest in cryptocurrency projects—the so-called "crypto winter"—the situation began to shift in 2025. Venture investments in crypto startups have noticeably increased: the total funding volume for blockchain projects this year exceeded $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 secured funding rounds from prominent investors. For example, the venture division of broker Robinhood and Founders Fund, led by Peter Thiel, have participated in financing a promising blockchain platform. In one of the year's largest deals, American crypto exchange Kraken secured $800 million, receiving a valuation of approximately $20 billion. By the end of the year, the volume of venture capital invested in crypto projects could approach a record high of $25 billion. All of this indicates a sort of renaissance in the industry: after the market was cleared of speculation, the focus has shifted to real use cases for blockchain, attracting more "smart" money. Several crypto startups are once again nearing unicorn status, while some exchanges and infrastructure projects have already reached billion-dollar valuations.
Local Focus: Russia and the CIS
Despite external limitations, active steps are being taken in Russia and neighboring countries to develop local startup ecosystems. Government and private institutions are launching new funds and programs aimed at supporting early-stage tech projects. For instance, the authorities of St. Petersburg discussed the creation of a city venture fund in November to finance promising high-tech companies—analogous to the Republic of Tatarstan, where a fund of 15 billion rubles is already operational. Furthermore, major corporations and regional banks are increasingly acting as investors and mentors for startups, developing corporate accelerators and their own venture divisions.
In addition to government efforts, there is a noticeable revival within the entrepreneurial community. International technology forums and summits (such as the recent Moscow AI Journey 2025) are being held, drawing attention to local innovations and building bridges between Russian developers and global investors. All these changes demonstrate that even under sanctions, the local venture scene continues to adapt and develop. For investors, the region, when approached with a balanced consideration of risks, offers new growth opportunities as a potentially promising market for venture investments.
