Current News on Startups and Venture Investments as of 25 December 2025: Record Investments in AI, the Return of Mega Funds, a New Wave of IPOs, M&A Deals, and Market Trends Heading into 2026
By the end of 2025, the global venture market has shown a robust recovery following a period of decline. Investors worldwide are once again actively investing in technology startups—unprecedentedly large deals are being concluded, and the IPO plans of technology companies are once again taking centre stage. Major players with substantial funds are making a comeback, while governments are intensifying their support for innovation. As a result, private capital is returning in significant volumes to the startup ecosystem, laying the groundwork for a new investment surge.
At the close of 2025, an increase in venture activity is evident across all regions. The United States remains the undisputed leader (particularly in the field of artificial intelligence), while the volume of technology investments in the Middle East continues to grow rapidly. In Europe, Germany leads the way in the number of venture deals, outpacing the United Kingdom. India, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf States are attracting record levels of capital amid a relative slowdown in activity in China. The startup ecosystems in Russia and the CIS countries are also striving to keep pace, despite external constraints. A global venture boom is taking shape on a new trajectory, although investors are still proceeding selectively and cautiously, focusing on the quality of projects.
Below are the key events and trends shaping the venture market landscape as of 25 December 2025:
- The Return of Mega Funds and Major Investors. Leading venture funds are raising record amounts in new funds and significantly increasing investments, saturating the market with capital and rekindling risk appetite.
- Record Rounds in AI and New Unicorns. Unprecedentedly large investment rounds are elevating startup valuations to new heights, particularly in the artificial intelligence segment.
- Revival of the IPO Market. Successful public offerings by several technology companies and preparations for new listings confirm that the long-awaited "window" for exits has opened up once again.
- Diversification of Sector Focus. Venture capital is being directed not only to AI but also to fintech, climate projects, biotechnology, defence developments, and even crypto startups.
- A Wave of Consolidation and M&A Deals. Major mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments are reshaping the industry landscape, creating opportunities for exits and accelerated growth.
- Local Focus: Russia and the CIS. Despite limitations, new funds and projects are being launched in the region to develop local startup ecosystems, attracting the attention of investors.
The Return of Mega Funds: Big Money Back in the Market
The largest investment players are making a triumphant return to the venture arena, signalling a renewed appetite for risk. The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has stepped back into the limelight, investing approximately $40 billion in OpenAI and other leading projects, effectively launching a new mega-round of financing. Sovereign funds from Gulf countries have also ramped up their activity: they are pouring tens of billions of dollars into technology initiatives and developing state mega-programmes to support the startup sector, forming their own tech hubs in the Middle East. Concurrently, numerous new venture funds are being established worldwide, attracting significant institutional capital for investment in high-tech sectors. Major Silicon Valley firms are also increasing their presence once again: leading funds have amassed unprecedented reserves of “dry powder”—hundreds of billions of dollars in uninvested capital ready to be deployed as market confidence solidifies. The influx of “big money” fills the startup market with liquidity, providing resources for new rounds and driving growth in valuations. The return of mega funds and major investors heightens competition for the best deals, while simultaneously instilling confidence in the sector regarding continued capital inflows.
Record Investments in AI and a New Wave of Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector remains the main driver of the current venture surge, demonstrating record levels of financing. Investors are eager to secure positions among AI leaders and are directing colossal resources into the most promising projects. The largest startups in the generative AI space are achieving unprecedented valuations: OpenAI has become the most highly valued private startup in history, with a valuation of around $500 billion, while its competitor Anthropic raised approximately $13 billion in September, elevating its valuation to $183 billion. Elon Musk's startup xAI has managed to gather over $12 billion in investments in just one and a half years, and the French startup Mistral AI achieved a valuation of approximately $14 billion only two years post-establishment—such examples reflect the global frenzy surrounding AI. Notably, venture investments are being directed not only towards applied AI services but also towards infrastructure and hardware for AI. For instance, the startup Unconventional AI, which is developing energy-efficient AI chips, secured a record $475 million in a seed round (valuation of $4.5 billion)—the market is prepared to finance even the “shovels and pickaxes” for the new gold rush around AI. The current investment boom has spawned a wave of new unicorns—dozens of startups worldwide have achieved valuations exceeding $1 billion in a short span. Although experts warn of the risk of overheating in the market, investors' appetite for AI startups remains high.
IPO Market Reviving: A Window of Opportunity for Exits
The global primary public offering (IPO) market is reviving after a prolonged lull, once again capturing the attention of the venture community. In Asia, Hong Kong has initiated a new wave of IPOs: in recent months, several large technology companies have gone public, collectively attracting billions of dollars in investments. For example, the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL successfully conducted a secondary offering of around $5 billion, indicating investor readiness to actively participate in large transactions. In the United States and Europe, conditions are also improving: the American fintech unicorn Chime debuted on the stock market, with share prices rising approximately 30% on its first trading day, while the design solutions platform Figma successfully conducted an IPO, raising around $1.2 billion at an estimated valuation of about $20 billion. Following them, several other highly valued startups have announced plans to go public in 2026, including payment giant Stripe and other unicorns that are ripe for an IPO. Even the crypto industry is looking to take advantage of this window of opportunity: fintech company Circle held a high-profile IPO in the summer of 2025 (its shares then significantly increased in value), and cryptocurrency exchange Bullish has filed for a listing in the United States with a target valuation of around $4 billion. The resurgence of activity in the IPO market is crucial for the venture ecosystem: successful public offerings allow funds to realise profits and redirect freed-up capital into new projects, thereby closing the investment cycle.
Diversification of Investments: Not Just AI
In 2025, venture investments are encompassing an increasingly broader range of industries and are no longer limited to artificial intelligence alone. Following last year’s downturn, fintech is regaining momentum: significant funding rounds are taking place not only in the US but also in Europe and emerging markets, contributing to the growth of new financial services. Concurrently, there is a growing interest in climate and “green” technologies—projects in renewable energy, CO2 utilisation, and agri-tech are attracting record investments on the wave of the global sustainable development trend. An appetite for biotechnology is also returning: breakthrough developments in medicine and digital health are once again beginning to receive considerable capital as sector valuations recover. Furthermore, against a backdrop of heightened security concerns, investors have become more active in defensive technologies, financing startups working on defence and cybersecurity solutions. A partial recovery of trust in the cryptocurrency market has allowed some blockchain startups to once again attract funding. Thus, the expansion of sector focus is making the entire startup ecosystem more resilient, reducing the risk of overheating in individual segments.
Consolidation and M&A Deals: The Consolidation of Players
High valuations for startups and stiff competition in many markets are pushing the industry towards consolidation. Major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are coming back to the forefront, reshaping the balance of power in the technology sector. For instance, Google has agreed to acquire the Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $32 billion—a record amount for Israel's technology market. Such mega-deals showcase the eagerness of IT giants to acquire key technologies and talent, thereby strengthening their positions. Overall, the current activity in acquisitions and strategic investments indicates the maturation of the market: mature startups are merging with each other or becoming targets for acquisition by corporations, while venture investors are gaining opportunities for the long-awaited profitable exits. This wave of consolidation allows for more efficient resource allocation and contributes to the accelerated growth of leading companies.
Russia and the CIS: Local Initiatives Amid Global Trends
Despite external challenges, by the end of 2025, a certain revival in startup activity is observable in Russia and neighbouring countries. The announcement of several new venture funds totaling several billion roubles aimed at supporting technological projects in their early stages signifies growth in local startup ecosystems. Local startups are beginning to attract more serious capital: for example, the Krasnodar-based foodtech project Qummy secured approximately 440 million roubles in investments, with an estimated valuation of about 2.4 billion roubles, indicating increased trust in regional projects. Additionally, regulators have eased several restrictions: foreign investors are once again permitted to invest in Russian technology companies, gradually rekindling the interest of foreign capital. Although venture investment volumes in the region remain modest compared to global figures, they are steadily increasing. Large corporations are also exploring options for taking their technology divisions public as market conditions improve—VK Tech, for instance, has publicly hinted at the possibility of an IPO in the near future. New government support measures and corporate initiatives aim to provide additional momentum to the local startup ecosystem and integrate it into global trends.
Cautious Optimism and Quality Growth
At the turn of 2025-2026, the venture market is experiencing moderately optimistic sentiments. Record investments in leading startups and successful transactions (both IPOs and M&As) indicate that the downturn is behind us; however, investors still prefer to act selectively. Attention is centred on companies with sustainable business models and real performance—an era of unchecked “spray and pray” investing has been replaced by a more measured approach. Significant capital influxes into AI and other promising sectors instil confidence in continued market growth, but venture funds are keen to diversify investments and strengthen risk controls to prevent overheating during the new upswing. As such, the industry is entering another cycle of development with a focus on quality, balanced growth. Venture investors and funds look towards 2026 with cautious optimism, hoping to maintain positive trends through a more disciplined approach to startup evaluations.
