Global venture funding experienced a significant uptick in the second quarter of 2025, with a pronounced concentration of capital into the largest funding rounds, according to data from Crunchbase. The total funding reached $91 billion, marking an increase from $82 billion in the same quarter of 2024. However, this figure represents a decline from the $114 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025, which was the highest since Q3 2022.
The surge in annual funding over the past three quarters has been largely driven by substantial investments in AI research labs and data infrastructure providers. Despite a slight decrease in capital concentration compared to the previous two quarters, Q2 still saw a significant portion of funds directed towards large-scale investments. Nearly one-third of all Q2 capital was funneled into 16 companies that raised rounds of $500 million or more, including a notable $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI.
AI’s Blockbuster Quarter
The AI sector emerged as a key beneficiary of this funding surge, securing $40 billion — approximately 45% of global funding for the quarter. A significant portion of this was attributed to Scale AI, which alone attracted over a third of the total AI investment. This trend highlights the robust interest and confidence in AI technologies, which have seen record funding levels over the past three quarters.
Among the standout funding rounds were those for foundation model companies, which raised $5.5 billion last quarter. Notable recipients included Thinking Machines Lab and Safe Superintelligence, both of which are relatively new players in the field, each securing $2 billion. Other significant AI investments included Anduril Industries ($2.5 billion), Grammarly ($1 billion), Anysphere ($900 million), and Helsing ($694 million).
Meanwhile, the healthcare and biotech sectors also attracted substantial venture funding, raising $14.8 billion, making it the second-largest sector for the quarter. Financial services followed closely, securing $10.8 billion.
First Half of 2025: A Record-Breaking Period
The first half of 2025 has been remarkable for venture capital, posting the strongest half-year figures since the first half of 2022. A total of $205 billion was raised by mid-year, representing a 32% increase from H1 2024. A significant portion of this funding, over a third, was concentrated in just 11 companies that secured rounds of $1 billion or more.
The two largest venture fundings on record were both raised this year, with Scale AI’s $14.3 billion in Q2 and OpenAI’s $40 billion in Q1. To find the third-largest venture round on record, one would have to look back to 2018 when Ant Group in Hangzhou raised a $14 billion Series C funding.
Mergers and Acquisitions Surge
The second quarter of 2025 also marked a strong period for startup M&A activity, with $50 billion in reported exit value, making it the second-strongest quarter since 2021. Although this was a decrease from the $71 billion recorded in Q1, it included significant transactions such as Google’s acquisition of Wiz for $32 billion, the largest-ever acquisition of a private company.
OpenAI emerged as the most active and largest acquirer in Q2, purchasing four companies, including Jony Ive’s Io for $6 billion and Windsurf for $3 billion. In total, 18 companies were acquired for more than $1 billion, with half of these acquisitions made by public companies and three by private equity firms. Notably, six acquisitions were by private venture-backed companies, including Databricks’ acquisition of open source SQL database Neon.
Funding Trends Across Stages
Late-stage funding saw all the gains year over year in Q2, reaching $55 billion, a more than 53% increase from the previous year, although down by nearly a third quarter over quarter. Early-stage funding remained flat at $26 billion across 1,600 companies, with the largest rounds peaking around $220 million. Key areas of investment included quantum computing, energy, self-driving technology, therapeutics, satellite technology, human resources, and chat software services.
Seed funding reached $10.3 billion in Q2, with Thinking Machines raising a record-breaking $2 billion seed round, accounting for 20% of the total. Excluding this round, seed funding would have remained flat quarter over quarter and decreased year over year.
Looking Ahead
The concentration of venture capital in larger rounds and the increasing focus on AI continue to shape the funding landscape in 2025. As more capital flows into private companies, the uptick in M&A activity provides a positive outlook, reminiscent of peak levels seen in 2021. This trend underscores the dynamic nature of the global venture capital market and its evolving priorities.
According to Crunchbase, the data used in this report is based on reported figures as of July 3, 2025. It’s important to note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts often increasing significantly after the end of a quarter or year.
