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Apr 30, 2025
Key venture capital statistics for 2025 so far
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If you’re an entrepreneur, angel investor, or industry analyst, you know how crucial venture capital (VC) is for funding early-stage startups.
These startups have the potential to change industries and open up new markets, which boosts the global economy.
So, what are the key venture capital statistics for 2025?
This report breaks down key venture capital statistics in a straightforward way.
We’ve organized the data by important themes like funding stages, regional trends, gaming investments, and exit outcomes.
As venture capitalists, Konvoy is excited to share these insights to keep you in the loop.
Funding for startups is on the rise around the world in sectors like AI, tech, biotech, fintech, and gaming.
Let’s check out how this is shaping the venture capital scene globally by 2025.
1. According to Alter Domus, global venture capital investment reached $126.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025. This is the highest amount in ten quarters and an increase from $118.7 billion in the last quarter.
2. Several big deals, like OpenAI's record $40 billion funding, fueled this growth.
3. However, despite the high investment value, the number of deals fell to 7,551 in Q1 2025, down from 8,801 in the previous quarter. This decline shows that investors are cautious due to uncertain economic conditions.
4. The Q1 2025 reports from PitchBook and Crunchbase forecast that total global venture capital investment for 2025 will be around $400 billion.
5. In terms of geography, North America leads with about 70% of global VC funding as of Q1 2025.
6. Asia follows with about 15-20%, and Europe accounts for about 11-17%.
7. The US attracts more than two-thirds of global VC funding, driven by large raises from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic ($4.5 billion), and Infinite Reality ($3 billion).
8. The VC market in 2025 shows a trend of concentrating capital in fewer, larger deals. However, many smaller deals still take place.
9. Alter Domus notes that the global VC market is splitting into two tiers. There is strong investment in mega deals and AI-related sectors, while overall fundraising and exit values remain low due to inflation, interest rates, and trade uncertainties.
When it comes to the stages of venture capital, there are interesting facts we should focus on:
10. According to Elasticity, globally, there is a trend known as the "seed squeeze," where more money is invested in fewer deals.
11. As a result, investors are raising the standards for seed funding, and pre-seed rounds are becoming more common.
12. However, Seedblink reports that in Europe, seed investments in the first quarter of 2025 totaled about $1.6 billion across roughly 850 deals.
13. While the number of deals in Europe has slowly declined since early 2024, the total funding amounts have remained steady.
14. Startuplinks shares that in Latin America, more than 80% of total deals come from pre-seed and seed rounds.
15. So, in LATAM, Pre-seed funding reached $110 million, an increase from 2023, while seed funding was $408 million, the lowest amount in five years due to stricter investor criteria.
16. Elasticity reports show that it is getting harder for startups to secure Venture Capital in Series A funding.
17. Now, companies typically need to make $2.5 million in annual revenue to attract investors. This is a 75% increase since 2021.
18. On a brighter note, Seedblink indicated that some European startups have found success with their Series A rounds.
19. Like London’s Verdiva Bio that raised a massive $411 million (the largest Series A in Europe so far) and Sweden’s Windward Bio, which scored $200 million.
20. A recent report from Elasticity shows that in 2024, Series B and C funding deals got a nice boost, growing by 9.1% and 17.2%, respectively.
21. This indicates that investors are interested in startups that raise capital and have solid business models and clear paths to generating revenue.
22. The report also highlights a strong recovery in late-stage funding, with late-stage deals increasing by over 70% from Q3 to Q4 2024.
23. This surge is mainly driven by large investments in the AI and climate tech sectors.
24. Over in Europe, Seedblink noted that late-stage investments (Series B and beyond) hit around $5.6 billion in Q1 2025, covering more than 80 deals.
25. This is a bit higher than the previous quarter but still a notch below the peak seen in Q2 2024.
Every year, a specific sector stands out for venture capitalists, private equity firms, and hedge funds.
This year, VCs are seeing the biggest impact in the top sectors of the global economy.
26. According to kpmg, in Q1 2025, AI continues to be the leading area for venture capital (VC) investment worldwide, attracting about $59.6 billion.
27. Investors are particularly interested in generative AI, AI-driven software as a service (SaaS), AI in healthcare, specialized AI applications, and AI infrastructure.
28. AI is likely to remain the main focus of VC funding as we move into Q2 2025.
29. VC Labs announced that Deep Tech and Robotics is now the top sector for investors, surpassing AI with 6.7% of votes compared to AI's 6.3%.
30. Key factors driving this growth include automation in manufacturing, solutions for labor shortages, resilience in supply chains, and cloud robotics.
31. VC Lab reported that blockchain startups raised $4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
32. This is the strongest quarter since late 2022.
33. Key areas of investment include blockchain cybersecurity, tokenization of real-world assets, and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
34. A report from Startuplinks on Latin America shows that FinTech is the leading sector for investments.
35. In 2024, it made up 61% of all venture capital funding in the region.
36. In our Q1 2025 Report, we found that the global gaming market is projected to reach around $186 billion by 2026.
37. Growing at an annual rate of about 4.7% year-over-year (YoY).
38. In Q1 2025, gaming startups received $373 million in VC funding, which is a 35% increase quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) compared to the previous quarter.
39. The number of VC deals in gaming was 77 in Q1 2025, down 6% QoQ and 51% YoY, meaning fewer gaming startups secured funding despite the larger average deal sizes or focused investments.
40 The top categories that received funding were blockchain games, MOBA games, AAA mobile games, and esports platforms.
41. The US accounts for 6.4% of global gamers but generates 26% of global gaming revenue.
Exits are the main goal for VC-backed startups because they represent the return on investment. So, let’s take a look at what the results might be in 2025.
42. A KPMG report shows that in the first quarter of 2025, US-listed IPOs raised $9.22 billion.
43. This is a 7% increase from $8.63 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, but still much lower than the $133 billion raised in the first quarter of 2021.
44. In Q1 2025, there were 59 IPOs, down from 76 in Q4 2024.
45. Whitecase reported that globally, the number of IPOs increased from 102 in January 2024 to 117 in January 2025.
46 However, KPMG noted that all-sector M&A in the US totaled $376 billion in Q1 2025. This is a 7% decrease from $404 billion in Q4 2024 and marks the lowest total since Q3 2023.
47 In contrast, global private equity and venture capital-backed deal values surged in March 2025.
48. They reached $4.13 billion in the first quarter, which is 69% higher than $2.45 billion in the same period in 2024, according to S&P Global.
Venture capital statistics aren't just random figures; they actually show us where innovation is going.
We are especially interested in the increase in funding for seed-stage startups and how AI is shaping the market.
To stay informed in the coming days, subscribe to the Konvoy newsletter for insights on venture capital, gaming, and innovation.
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