🎯Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 2h agoWhat's happening: AI fuels record $119.5B venture fundraising despite fewer rounds
Venture capital fundraising jumped 16.9% to $119.5 billion in 2025, the strongest recovery since the 2022 market reset. The total number of rounds fell 41% to 4,859, concentrating capital in larger AI‑focused financings, with AI startups capturing 58% of Series D cash and median valuations rising across all stages.
Also developing:
By the numbers: OpenAI raises $110B in corporate funding
Blog•Dec 5, 2025
How to Build an Investor CRM (With Template) | The Four Product Discovery Models: Where Your Company Really Operates.
In this episode, Sahil S explains that successful fundraising is 80% organization and introduces a simple investor CRM built in Google Sheets, complete with a downloadable template. He walks listeners through essential columns—contact info, investor type, referrer, and stage—showing how to track interactions from lead to soft commit and keep follow‑ups organized. The key takeaway is that a lightweight, searchable spreadsheet can prevent missed opportunities and streamline the fundraising workflow without costly software. Sahil’s practical, founder‑focused perspective emphasizes disciplined record‑keeping as the hidden engine behind effective capital raising.
By Sahil S
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Teach Decision‑Making, Not Just Math or AI
The latest on Outlier's Path - Being Right vs. Getting It Right -- During Thanksgiving Break, I found joy at several friends' and family gatherings. I've learned to sit between the adults' table and the kids' table. The conversations at that intersection...
By Sequoia Capital
Podcast•Dec 5, 2025•1h 1m
What Comes After ChatGPT? The Mother of ImageNet Predicts The Future
Fei‑Fei Li and her former student Justin Johnson discuss their new model Marble, which creates explorable 3D worlds from text or images, highlighting how spatial intelligence differs fundamentally from language and why current world models lack physics understanding. They argue...
By a16z Podcast
News•Dec 5, 2025
Helmet Security Raises $9M Funding
Helmet Security, a Washington, DC‑based provider of end‑to‑end security platforms, announced a $9 million funding round. The round was led by SYN Ventures with participation from WhiteRabbit Ventures. CEO Fred Kneip and CTO Kaushik Shanadi said the capital will fuel operational...
By FinSMEs
Podcast•Dec 5, 2025•1h 5m
20VC: Inside Bending Spoons Acquisition Machine: Evernote, Eventbrite, Vimeo | How Evernote Evaluates Acquisitions and New Product Ideas | How...
In this episode, Federico Simionato, a product lead at Bending Spoons, walks through the company’s rapid growth from a small game studio to an $11 billion acquisition powerhouse, sharing how they evaluate and test new product ideas and build a coveted...
By The Twenty Minute VC (20VC)
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Optics Excel at I/O, but Not for Computing
I responded to an investor re optical computing: More optical interconnects which we funded and sold. Have thus far been skeptical as optics for comms and moving data are amazing. But for computing/processing data very hard. Semiconductors work as switches and...
By Josh Wolfe
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Kalshi's Media Deals Reveal Deep Finance‑politics Network
Kalshi ’s new CNN and CNBC deals are making headlines. But the more interesting story is its connections across finance and politics. I mapped the entire network here:
By Hiten Shah
News•Dec 4, 2025
Institutional Capital Is Reshaping Digital Asset Market Structure
Institutional investors are channeling unprecedented capital into digital assets, deepening liquidity and prompting a shift in market structure. Sophisticated trading venues—ranging from regulated exchanges to prime brokerage platforms—are replacing fragmented over‑the‑counter networks. Enhanced custody solutions and clearer compliance frameworks are...
By FinSMEs
Social•Dec 5, 2025
US Tech Must Treat Qatar Investors Like Threats
Any American tech or defense company should be as wary of any investor with ties to or money from Qatar as much as Russia or Iran or the CCP. It will NOT end well. Funds surely took money years ago...
By Josh Wolfe
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Rethinking Burnout: Rest Isn't the Whole Solution
We took a week off to celebrate Thanksgiving, but we are back with a new episode of The Learning Corner by Precursor Ventures . We are thankful for all of your who have listened, liked, and subscribed to episodes this...
By Charles Hudson
News•Dec 4, 2025
Why Day One Ventures’ Masha Bucher Thinks VCs and Storytelling Go Hand-in-Hand
Day One Ventures partner Masha Bucher argues that venture capital and storytelling are inseparable. She has built an integrated investment model that couples capital deployment with narrative development, aligning founder and investor incentives from the outset. By focusing on the...
By TechCrunch Venture Feed
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Pentagon Funds Tiny Rare‑earth Startup After Trump Jr. Backing
A little-known rare earths start-up with about 30 employees has won a blockbuster funding deal from the Pentagon, three months after Donald Trump Jr’s venture capital firm invested in the company. https://t.co/dvj66uDJZC
By Chris Fralic
Social•Dec 5, 2025
AI Oncologist Gives Every Patient World‑Class Cancer Care
Radical Health is building the future of cancer care with their new AI Oncologist, giving every patient access to care as if they were being treated by the world’s top cancer doctor. https://t.co/EFqcwRfwXq
By Vinod Khosla
News•Dec 4, 2025
OceanSaver Raises £1.9M in Funding
OceanSaver, a Leeds‑based ecological cleaning brand, secured £1.9 million in a funding round led by NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance. The capital will fund the company’s expansion across the UK and accelerate product development. Founded in 2018, the firm specialises in...
By FinSMEs
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Besimple AI Secures $3M Seed to Power Audio Data Layer
Congrats to @besimple_ai on their $3M seed! They're building the data layer for AI, starting with audio. Besimple licenses and processes diverse conversational audio so teams can ship better voice models, faster. https://t.co/PGihh57d8S https://t.co/r4m6g3h45i
By YCombinator
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Hire People Who Already Are the Role
Some people aren’t just in big roles, they *are* the role. e.g. Tammy at Stripe. Solana at FF. Katherine at AD/a16z. For appropriate roles, recruit people whose natural inclinations fit your business and pitch them "be yourself, just with more support...
By Erik Torenberg
News•Dec 4, 2025
How Regulation Is Forcing Innovation in the Online Betting Economy
Regulators across the U.S. and Europe are tightening oversight of online betting, prompting operators to overhaul their technology stacks. The heightened compliance burden is spurring rapid investment in fintech, regtech, and advanced data infrastructure. Companies are deploying real‑time identity verification,...
By FinSMEs
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Unicorns Typically Need 10‑20 Years, Not 5‑10
While we have portfolio companies that have gotten to unicorn status in 5-10 years. It's much more realistic (and common) - even on a fast trajectory - to take 10-20 years to get there.
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Consumer Health Boom Accelerates in 2026
One 2026 prediction I have is that consumer health companies will be an even bigger trend next year. With Function Health leading the way, you have fast growing newer upstarts helping consumers with longevity. Measurement of vitals, F&B for more...
By Elizabeth Yin
Podcast•Dec 4, 2025•50 min
The Psychology Every Founder Needs Right Now | A16z GP Reveals Secrets to Success
In this episode, a16z GP Anish Acharya explains why consumer tech is resurging, highlighting how AI now enables products to reach 100 million users at unprecedented speed. He outlines the distribution shifts and founder mindsets required for success through 2026, emphasizing...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Focus on Sales and Support, Not Features
Instead of building more features, do more sales and support at your startup. You'll will grow faster and learn more.
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Be Irreplaceably Human or Remain Ignored—No Middle Ground
Yes
By Alexis Ohanian
News•Dec 4, 2025
WindRose Health Investors Closes Fund VII, at $2.6 Billion
WindRose Health Investors announced the closing of its seventh private‑equity fund, WindRose Health Investors VII, L.P., with total commitments of $2.6 billion from limited partners and the firm’s general partner. The NYC‑based firm said the new vehicle will focus on healthcare...
By FinSMEs
Social•Dec 5, 2025
AI-Powered VC Intros: 526+ Matches for Founders
SaaStr AI VC has made 526+ VC intros for founders 1️⃣Upload your deck 2️⃣Get an instant AI score 3️⃣If it's a fit, opt-in to top-tier VC intros Learn more here: https://t.co/dd0zpQKZQp https://t.co/2pHhYC61aQ
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Invest in Unstoppable People Creating Inevitable Breakthroughs
The secret to investing is to invest in unstoppable people building inevitable things.
By Naval Ravikant
News•Dec 4, 2025
Etaily Receives Investment Led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund
etaily, a Philippines‑based digital‑native retail platform, secured a new investment round led by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Asia Rising Fund. While the exact amount was not disclosed, the financing pushes the company’s total capital raised above $24 million. Existing backers...
By FinSMEs
Social•Dec 5, 2025
Mission‑First Investing: We Match Founders’ Pace
At @fiftyyears, nothing matters more than the mission. So we don't operate like most investors. Not many OOO auto replies over the holidays. No weeks long trips to Aspen. No long summer vacations. We try to match the pace of our founders....
By Seth Bannon
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Opinionated Vision Drives Simplicity in Great Products
Good Products are Opinionated. “Every great founder I’ve seen up close, or even from afar, is highly opinionated and they’re almost dictatorial in how they run things. Also, early-stage teams are opinionated. And the products they build are opinionated. Opinionated means they...
By Naval Ravikant
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Prism Brings Real‑Time ARR, Burn Rate, Churn to ERP
If you told me five years ago that I could see my ARR, Burn Rate, and Churn in an ERP, I would have told you to go back to bed. Sounds like fiction. It's all possible now with Prism. CONGRATS...
By CJ Gustafson
Social•Dec 4, 2025
150 AI Leaders Ignite Collaboration at State of AI Meetup
This week’s State of AI Report x London AI @airstreet meetup was something special. 150 people building across big tech, AI labs, startups, and academia packed the space with sharp ideas and real momentum. Highlights from the night: • @rosstaylor90 (@GenReasoning) on...
By Nathan Benaich
Social•Dec 4, 2025
AI Plateau Fuels On‑device, Open‑source Surge, Threatens Spend‑dr
If frontier AI models plateau, then on-device inference and open source models could catch all the way up. Great for consumers and developers. Amazing for getting intelligence too cheap to meter, for AI-enabled hardware, and for the garden of intelligent things. But...
By Balaji Srinivasan
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Long‑term Ownership Beats Quick Exits for Founders
As a first time founder, it can be exhilarating to want to sell a company. As a second time founder, you know that results compound and it only gets better the longer you hold. I will never sell my business...
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Hardware Dominates: V1 Ventures Backs Vertical Robotics
Two days ago, we Version One Ventures mentioned that this year we made 9 new investments, of which 8 (!!) have hardware. Proof that we LOVE the world of atoms, robotics, and physical AI. Here’s a quick refresher of our...
By Angela Tran Kingyens
Social•Dec 4, 2025
28 Days Left to Close This Year's Deal
if you told me in January that 'we should look to do a deal this year,' and we haven't, well, you have 28 days left to consummate
By Hunter Walk
Social•Dec 4, 2025
YC Demo Day Feels Like Reunion, Not Transactional Pitchfest
Someone asked me, "Why do you think YC demo day is far better than most tech events?" Me: "It feels more like a reunion, with far fewer aggressive pitches and requests to connect on LinkedIn." FWIW, I respect the hustle, but feel...
By Ryan Hoover
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Deep Dive Into Private‑to‑Private M&A Strategies
Fantastic article on private to private M&A from Bob Moore and First Round Capital with a level of detail and insight that you rarely find. https://lnkd.in/e9icT7sS
By Chris Fralic
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Flex Team Celebrates Successful Funding Round
Congrats to the Flex team on their raise!
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Dec 4, 2025
I’m Unable to View the Linked Content, so I Can’t Generate a Headline.
https://t.co/rmhdBlvLJa
By Nathan Benaich
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Emerging Fund Manager Launches Succession Planning, Congrats Haley Bryant
Why we started succession planning as an emerging fund manager and congrats @haleymbryant ! https://t.co/TuBWR76gm5
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Europe's AI Lag: Causes and Paths to Recovery
this is a great piece on why europe has fallen behind on driving ai progress and what we might do to rectify this
By Nathan Benaich
Social•Dec 4, 2025
People Chase Tech for Cash, Ignore Its Math
Too many are interested in “tech” (by which they mean money) but they aren’t interested in tech (by which I mean math).
By Balaji Srinivasan
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Stealth Mode: Founders Quietly Building the Next Big Thing
Founders building in stealth mode: https://t.co/PBn8AtWJ4s
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Unicorn Founders Are Rarer than Pro Athletes
Just to calibrate, tech unicorn founders are much rarer than pro athletes. https://t.co/Fauk5QXhYA
By Balaji Srinivasan
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Live Pitch Dissection with Haley Bryant
We are live dissecting a pitch right now with @haleymbryant ! https://t.co/zpbdJFaHfL
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Foretell Emerges From Stealth, Backed by Elite
1/ Foretell is out of stealth Backed by Lux, Thrive, Founders Fund, Valor + @patrick_oshag + @GavinSBaker WIRED: "Want This Hearing Aid? Well, Who Do You Know?
By Josh Wolfe
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Fund Management: 80% Fundraising, Ops, Not Investing
A lot of emerging fund managers think they would like to start a fund because they enjoy investing in startups. But as a fund manager, investing is probably only 20% of the job. The bulk of it is fundraising, portfolio...
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Incubating GoAutoLane to Manage Mall Self‑Driving Fleets
Excited to have incubated @goautolane… which is going to orchestrate the dozens of self driving cars as they coming in and out of your local mall and box box retailer’s parking lot!
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Invest in the Next Coinbase at YC Demo Day
Highly recommend investing in the next Coinbase at YC Demo Day A+++++ incredible experience
By Garry Tan
Social•Dec 4, 2025
F25 Demo Day Wraps Up Successfully
F25 Demo Day in the books https://t.co/5FZPjXbLpS
By YCombinator
Social•Dec 3, 2025
When Demand Outpaces Supply: From PMF to Market Pull
When does Product Market Fit turn into Product Market PULL? We all know how to spot Product Market Fit… there are real customers who are saving time and money by using your product, and they’re even evangelizing to their friends...
By Jason Calacanis