Startup and Venture Investment News — Sunday, November 2, 2025: AI and Large Rounds

Global Startup and Venture Investment News for 2nd November 2025: Major AI Rounds, New Funds, Robotics Growth, Climate Innovations, and Venture Market Prospects.

By the end of 2025, the global venture market is experiencing a boom in investments related to artificial intelligence and substantial funding rounds. In the third quarter, the total amount invested in startups exceeded $90 billion, with nearly half of this funding directed towards AI-related projects. Analysts note that funds are concentrating on "mega-rounds" in deep-tech companies and AI platforms, while the share of smaller deals is decreasing. This trend reflects a market recovery following the downturn of 2022 and indicates a tilt in favour of the most ambitious projects.

Tech Giants and Major Investments

Large IT corporations are also actively increasing their expenditure on AI development. For instance, Meta (formerly Facebook) has announced that its capital expenditures on data centres and artificial intelligence will reach a record $70–72 billion in 2025, exceeding previous estimates. The company has invested $14.3 billion in the Israeli startup Scale AI (a division of Superintelligence Labs) to accelerate the development of its own models. Simultaneously, Meta's revenue in the third quarter grew by 26% (to $51 billion), affirming the effectiveness of its strategy. Such figures bolster investor confidence that substantial investments in AI will pay off and elevate the company to new levels of efficiency.

Major Rounds in AI Startups

In 2025, many startups secured record amounts of funding:

Poolside (France) – an AI-based platform assisting code developers, is preparing to close a round of up to $2 billion with participation from NVIDIA (up to $1 billion) based on preliminary agreements.
Fireworks AI (USA) – a cloud platform for AI inference (a team of former PyTorch engineers), closed a Series C round of $250 million at a valuation of around $4 billion to scale its infrastructure.
Synthesia (USA) – a video generation service featuring AI avatars for marketing and training, raised $200 million, reaching a valuation of approximately $4 billion while expanding its global reach.
Mem0 (USA) – a startup creating "memory" for AI agents, closed a seed round of $24 million, indicating investor interest in foundational architectures for future AI systems.
Grasp (Sweden) – a multi-agent AI platform for financial and consulting processes, secured $7 million to develop its product for the European banking sector.

These transactions demonstrate investors' enthusiasm for all things related to AI implementation – from new applications to hardware and software infrastructure. Startups capable of integrating artificial intelligence into key sectors are receiving priority funding.

Robotics and Related Technologies

Another notable trend is the increase in investments in robotics. In the first half of 2025, approximately $6 billion was invested in global robotics startups, placing this year's performance on par with the record set in 2024. Among the largest rounds were:

Apptronik (USA) – a developer of the humanoid robot "Apollo" based in Austin, Texas, raised over $400 million this year to adapt the robot for industrial tasks (automotive, electronics manufacturing, warehouse logistics).
Galaxy Bot (China) – a company producing humanoid robots for household tasks and warehouse services, raised $154 million in June to expand production and access new markets.
The Bot Co. (USA) – a startup led by former Cruise leader Kyle Vogt, aims to create a universal "home robot." They closed a round of $150 million to scale home robotics developments.
CMR Surgical (UK) – a developer of robotic systems for surgery, raised $200 million in April for the global rollout of its medical robots.
ForSight Robotics (Israel) – a startup focusing on robotic ophthalmology, secured $125 million in June for developing systems for ophthalmic surgeries.
Neuralink (USA) – Elon Musk's neurointerface company, which actively employs robotics technologies in its operations, raised $650 million in May, indirectly supporting the development of medical robots.

The growth in funding confirms the "golden era" of robotics: investors are willing to invest in the automation of both industrial and medical processes, acknowledging the potential of new hardware and software solutions.

Crypto and Fintech: Strategic Deals

Significant M&A and investments are also occurring in the crypto segment and fintech:

Coinbase (USA) – the largest American cryptocurrency exchange is discussing the acquisition of the startup BVNK, specialising in stablecoin infrastructure, for approximately $2 billion. This forms part of its strategy to diversify its revenue and expand digital currency services.
Mastercard (USA) – the international payment network is negotiating the purchase of the crypto project Zerohash (stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure) for $1.5–2 billion. Post-acquisition, Mastercard will become one of the largest investors in cryptocurrency infrastructure.
FAKTUS (France) – a fintech company for construction SMEs, raised approximately €56 million (a combination of equity and debt financing) from Lakestar, Foundamental, Insight, and FOST. The solution speeds up invoice payments by analysing contracts and invoices within minutes.
Saturn Fintech (Austria) – an embedded finance platform for banks and fintech, closed a Series A round of €12.9 million from Singular to accelerate the launch of digital banking tools in Europe.
iPNOTE (Spain) – a LegalTech startup using AI to optimise patent and copyright management, closed a seed round of approximately €0.857 million, aiming to reduce corporate expenses on legal and patent services.

These transactions reflect the commitment of major players to protect their positions in rapidly growing segments, from financial services to the crypto ecosystem. Investments continue in large directions (neobanks, API financing), while the cryptocurrency market is consolidating around specialised startups.

Environmental and Climate Technologies

Startups with a "green" focus are attracting significant capital:

Stardust Solutions (Israel) – a geoengineering project that secured a record $60 million for developing aerosol spraying technology in the stratosphere to reflect sunlight. The project has sparked debates due to ethical and environmental risks but demonstrates investor interest in large-scale climate solutions.
PACT (UK) – a manufacturer of collagen-based biomaterials, received £16 million for commercialising a skin substitute for fashion and automotive interiors (luxury brands in the fashion-tech sector).
Hydgen (Germany) – a developer of compact on-site "green" hydrogen production units, closed a round of $5 million to deploy hydrogen generation and storage modules in heavy industry.
EnduroSat (Bulgaria) – a space startup that secured approximately $104 million in October for building a factory for the series production of small satellites and expanding launch services.

Venture capital is intensifying its focus on climate technologies and sustainable innovations. Investments in projects aimed at clean energy, emission reduction, and environmental monitoring are increasing as countries and corporations seek solutions to global challenges.

The European Startup Market

The European ecosystem remains active across several segments, although deal pace trails that of the USA. Major rounds include:

EnduroSat (Bulgaria) – see above ($104 million).
PACT (UK) – see above (£16 million).
Hydgen (Germany) – see above ($5 million).
Saturn Fintech (Austria) – see above (€12.9 million).
Grasp (Sweden) – see above ($7 million).
iPNOTE (Spain) – see above (€0.857 million).

European funds and startups are focusing on fintech, deep-tech, and specialised AI solutions. While new unicorns are emerging less frequently, the overall value of startup portfolios is rising thanks to substantial deals involving industry-leading companies.

Russian Startups and the Venture Sector

Investment volume: In the first six months of 2025, Russian startups attracted over $87 million (an increase of ~90% compared to the same period last year), with the average investment ticket rising to approximately $1.3 million. This indicates a recovery in activity and investor trust.
Key areas: artificial intelligence, Deep Tech, and "green" technologies. Experts note the success of projects in industrial IoT, environmental monitoring, and advanced AI algorithms. Local accelerators and development programs highlight AI platforms and breakthrough engineering solutions as new growth points.
Support and International Expansion: State and corporate initiatives (accelerators, grants, tax incentives) are stimulating startup growth. Many projects seek to export – for instance, multimedia management systems and industrial applications are already entering foreign markets, enhancing the integration of Russian venture into the global ecosystem.

Future and Market Prospects

The overall venture investment landscape underscores that artificial intelligence remains the principal market driver. Analysts estimate that since the start of 2025, investments in AI startups have surpassed $160 billion and may exceed $200 billion by year-end, concentrating capital around leading projects (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, etc.) with a combined valuation of around one trillion dollars. This highlights a high concentration of resources in a few major companies.

At the same time, experts warn of the dangers of overheating: valuations for many tech companies are already quite high, with nearly half of surveyed investors seeing signs of a "bubble" in the AI market. For sustainable growth, it is crucial that all investments translate into tangible products and profitable businesses. In the coming months, investors will closely monitor reports from major tech companies to ensure that aggressive investments in AI genuinely yield additional revenue and strengthen the positions of these companies.