🎯Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 39m 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
News•Nov 25, 2025
Codenotary Nabs $16.5M
Codenotary, a Houston‑based AI cybersecurity firm specializing in software supply‑chain trust, announced a $16.5 million financing round on November 25, 2025. The capital comes from a mix of new and existing investors and will be used to speed up product development and expand the company’s market reach. Codenotary’s platform, which can be deployed in minutes, offers automated software integrity verification and enterprise‑wide security for hundreds of customers, including major banks, government agencies, and defense contractors.
By VC News Daily
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Deep Search Instantly Surfaces Hidden Ticket Insights
Deep Search from @yuma_dot_ai is a new way to access Customer Voice. Brands struggle to find patterns in thousands of support tickets, so critical issues go unnoticed for days. Deep Search uses a ChatGPT-like interface to scan the entire ticket cloud in...
By YCombinator
Podcast•Nov 25, 2025•1h 4m
He Launched a Tiny Ice Cream Factory, Now It’s a National Brand Ft. Alec Jaffe
In this episode, Mike Gelb talks with Alec Jaffe, founder of Alec’s Ice Cream, about creating a premium, gut‑friendly ice cream brand using A2 dairy and regenerative sourcing. Alec explains how he built a farm‑to‑factory supply chain, differentiated real ice...
By The Consumer VC
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Mel Williams on AI Cycle and VC Competitive Edge
Had an awesome time chatting with Mel Williams , cofounder of TrueBridge, an $8B AUM fund that invests in VC firms. We discussed how he thinks about the current AI cycle, what he looks for in venture managers, and what...
By Jack Altman
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Build a Dream Team Before Hiring an Investment Bank
What key things should founders look for when hiring an investment bank to help sell their business or raise capital? Most software founders don't know exactly who needs to be involved in order to pull off a successful sale or...
By Michael Lyon
News•Nov 25, 2025
Definedge Raises Funding Round
Definedge, a Pune-based fintech and brokerage platform that offers trading tools and an investor‑education ecosystem, announced a new funding round with an undisclosed amount. The round was backed by a group of individual investors including Hemant Luthra, Ajay Srivastava, D....
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Megas Dominate Series A Deals over $20M
Series A: Most priced A rounds cluster around $20M. Below this, dedicated A funds lead the majority of rounds. ~40% of priced A rounds land in the $20M+ bucket & this is where the megas come flooding, leading or co-leading more...
By Beezer Clarkson
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Mega-Funds Dominate Rare $20M+ Seed Rounds
New data on Seed & Series A: how many deals are getting done & at what check size👇 Seed: ~90% of priced Seed rounds are $20M: Though just a tiny fraction of the mkt, 70% of priced Seed rounds include mega-fund lead...
By Beezer Clarkson
News•Nov 25, 2025
Sterling Investment Partners Closes Over $1.6 Billion in Fifth Fund
Sterling Investment Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based middle‑market private‑equity firm specializing in business services and distribution, closed its fifth institutional fund, Sterling Investment Partners V, L.P., with $1.6 billion of committed capital. The fund’s capital base was bolstered by a sizable co‑investment...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 25, 2025
40%+ Growth Is Rare; SaaS Growth Slows Significantly
I don't know who needs to hear this today... But if you're growing more than 40%... you're CRUSHING IT! I know we only hear about companies obliterating land and speed records, but the reality is most SaaS companies are lucky...
By CJ Gustafson
Social•Nov 25, 2025
AI Video Agents Halve Downtime, Boost Resolution Speed
Congrats to Cerrion on their $18M Series A! Factory downtime costs manufacturers $1.4T annually (up 319% since 2019). Cerrion's AI video agents monitor production lines in real time, detecting quality issues, safety risks, and process deviations—then intervene automatically. Manufacturers like Unilever and...
By YCombinator
Blog•Nov 25, 2025
How to Do User Research without Users: The Synthetic User Guide. | The Truth About ChatGPT Enterprise Adoption.
Unicorns are back: what founders must understand right now & VC Jobs
By Sahil S
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Gym Teacher's Lesson Becomes VC's Problem‑Solving Fulcrum
A Venture Capitalist’s Ode to His Gym Teacher Michael Eisenberg There is an old adage that those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach gym. The adage has always troubled me. What more enlightened pursuit is there than education? So...
By Michael Eisenberg
News•Nov 25, 2025
Paxos Acquires Fordefi
Paxos, the New York‑based regulated blockchain infrastructure provider, announced the acquisition of Fordefi, an institutional‑grade custody and wallet technology firm also based in New York. While the purchase price was not disclosed, the deal merges Paxos’ licensed, qualified‑custody capabilities with...
By FinSMEs
Podcast•Nov 25, 2025•47 min
PE10X - Lessons From $4.7B in Software Growth Equity with Maitlan Cramer, MD Bow River Capital
Maitlan Cramer, Managing Director at Bow River Capital, explains how their "Capital Plus" playbook scales B2B SaaS firms by taking majority-control positions and actively fixing broken processes rather than just providing capital. He stresses choosing a large, healthy market over...
By VC10X
News•Nov 25, 2025
Ulrik Zeuthen Joins Adalyon as CEO
Adalyon, the Finland‑Denmark AI‑driven speech‑biomarker startup that supports clinical drug development, announced the appointment of Ulrik Zeuthen as its new chief executive officer. Zeuthen brings a track record of leading digital transformation initiatives in the pharmaceutical sector, with expertise in...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Custom Vibe Coding Threatens SaaS Dominance
Vibe Coding Will Kill SaaS: " In a year or two; you'll get to a place where a lot of the current organizational tools that companies are using, you could build your own version. It would make so much more sense to you...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Investors Don't Outnumber Founders in London, Claim Refuted
@BennettSiegel @endowment_eddie @maxaltman Except it’s not true that investors outnumber founders in London! Just wrong
By Harry Stebbings
Blog•Nov 25, 2025
Private Equity : The New Distribution Channel for AI Startups
The post argues that private equity (PE) firms have become the primary distribution channel for AI startups, thanks to the rapid growth of PE‑owned companies—now outnumbering public firms 4:1 in the US. Because PE portfolios consist mainly of mid‑market firms...
By Tomasz Tunguz
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Early First and Second Close Signals a Bad Deal
The minute I hear first and second close for an early stage funding round; I am out. Never a good sign.
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Venture Opportunities Are Bigger Than Ever, Despite Competition
Check out the full early-stage analysis in my LinkedIn article here + convo w @kirstenagreen (@ForerunnerVC) on how despite the competition, the opportunity in venture has never been greater. https://t.co/X5nmVC8dQU
By Beezer Clarkson
News•Nov 24, 2025
Huha Wear Raises $20M in Funding
Vancouver‑based women's intimate‑apparel brand Huha Wear announced a $20 million financing round led by District Ventures Capital, with participation from Export Development Canada. The capital will be deployed to accelerate product innovation and expand the company's market reach. Founded in 2019...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 25, 2025
AI Time-Platform Report Exposes Broken Modern Work
Wild to think I first seeded @getlaurel almost a decade ago 🤯 Their new AI time-platform report shows just how broken modern work is. No wonder companies are lining up for Laurel. Love seeing this momentum… and we’re just getting started....
By Alexis Ohanian
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Stay Resilient—Download the Latest Private Company Benchmarks
Keep on keeping on (and download the new private company benchmarks): https://t.co/TzlGYFvqPm
By CJ Gustafson
Podcast•Nov 24, 2025•1h
The 2045 Superintelligence Timeline: Epoch AI’s Data-Driven Forecast
Epoch AI researchers discuss a data‑driven timeline for superintelligence, arguing that Anthropic could build the first gigawatt‑scale AI datacenter and that breakthroughs like solving the Riemann hypothesis may arrive within five years. They challenge the notion of "energy bottlenecks," framing...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Growth Slows: Even $50M+ Firms Hit 17%
We’re seeing a structural reset: growth is simply harder now. Even $50M+ companies are growing at 17%, and public SaaS is stuck at 13%.
By CJ Gustafson
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Pre‑Christmas Podcast with Harry Stebbings and Rodricoll
Pre-Xmas pod with @HarryStebbings and @rodriscoll https://t.co/tEZBz0srjx
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Why SaaS Revenue Matters to VCs, Even If Overrated
As a founder, I used to think that SaaS revenue was overrated. Why did VCs care so much about that? Especially when it didn't make sense per the business More >>
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Nov 25, 2025
SaaStr AI VC Apps Reach 800K Uses in 60 Days
@bogdaniordache Probably not. Still, the flip side? Our SaaStr AI VC apps have already been used 800,000+ times in < 60 days https://t.co/XOGfNpEPiG
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Humanoid Chore Bots Under $1000 Launch
.@PiggyRobotics is building mass-producible humanoid robots that can do your chores at iPhone prices. They're full-size and complete with custom muscles, valves, and pumps for less than $1000. Congrats on the launch, @RichardGong17 & @Chenny_Deng33! https://t.co/dTIOKW2u1B https://t.co/8jrZsOZa4r
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 24, 2025
80% of Founders Fail First Due Diligence, Investors Overlook It
An astounding 80% of founders fail due diligence the first time they go through the process… and many investors aren’t doing ANY confirmatory due diligence at all. On TWiST, we’re chatting with Collin Sebastian of En Vérité about the shocking...
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Pivot Fast: Listen, Adapt, and Find Your Market
Sometimes founders can’t necessarily predict who will embrace their product… that’s why it’s so important to stay flexible and open-minded! On TWiST, Alex and I are chatting with Francisco Cornejo of Familify, maker of the well-reviewed storytelling app Storybook app....
By Jason Calacanis
Social•Nov 24, 2025
One Week Left: Apply for Impactful Graduate Internship
One week left to apply to our graduate internship program! I love working with our interns and they get to work on projects that directly impact the direction of our firm! https://lnkd.in/g6A7_phA
By Charles Hudson
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Investment Banks Connect Non‑hub Founders to Buyers
Who you know matters. If you own a software company that isn't headquartered in a city known for being a tech hub, one of the greatest benefits of hiring an investment bank is access to buyers. #founders #pathtoexit
By Michael Lyon
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Celebrating a Near‑Miss Investment in Interface’s Vision
Congrats to Thomas Lee Young , Aaryan Mehta , and the whole Interface team on today's announcement! This is an investment that almost didn't happen - thankfully, a friend nudged me to meet with them before the round closed. I've...
By Charles Hudson
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Forge Slowly, Thrive as AI Automates Speed
“Move Fast and Break Things” vs “Move Slow and Forge Things” “Move fast and break things” was a something we invented at Facebook to get a bunch of entitled Ivy League kids to grind for us. It worked. Then, all of...
By Chamath Palihapitiya
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Allocate 10% to a 30x Winner for 3x Fund
How do you create a 3x venture fund? For a smaller fund, in theory there are many ways, but most likely is: 1️⃣ Put 10% of your fund into your very best investment 2️⃣ It does 30x = 3x the whole...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Success No Longer Dependent on Silicon Valley Location
6. Why Base44 Is Helped & Not Hurt by Not Being in Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is no longer mandatory for building important companies or accessing opportunity. The war on talent is tough in Silicon Valley: If you don’t have deep pockets,...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Base44 Lets Anyone Build Products, Outpacing Cursor
5. How Does Base44 Beat Cursor in the End? I started Base44 for non-technical people: no API keys, no Supabase links… As models improve, even developers care less about editing files or seeing code. When you can build whole products inside Base44, most...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Outdated Travel Policies Force Meetings Away From Tel Aviv
As I mentioned, we had to do our LP meeting in London because many firms' travel policies have not been updated to show how safe Tel Aviv is and we always want to see our partners in person. We appreciate...
By Michael Eisenberg
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Sharing Select Slides: Israel vs UK Insights Unveiled
Every year, at our annual meeting with our LPs, I do a State of the Union. It is pretty wide ranging. It covers Geopolitics, VC, Investment Themes, Opportunities, State of Aleph and more. For years I have debated whether to share...
By Michael Eisenberg
Social•Nov 24, 2025
High‑Profit 3M‑User Portfolio Hits $1M Revenue
An amazing portfolios of apps just landed on @acquiredotcom > $1M TTM revenue > $595K TTM profit > 2.95M monthly active users Lean team, diversified revenue mix, and strong recurring base. Love rare portfolio listings like this: Check more here: https://t.co/iqotQkQkUE https://t.co/aAtqSU3dIs
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Cofounder Breakups Kill Startups More than PMF
Startups die from cofounder breakups/tensions more often than not finding product market fit. We just blame PMF because "irreconcilable differences" sounds too much like divorce court jargon.
By Niko Bonatsos
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Microbiome Model Predicts Drug Response, Boosts Efficacy
Anto (@anto_f25) is building a foundation model for microbial communities that predicts how drugs work across diverse populations. By uncovering how the microbiome drives drug response and failure, they're optimizing molecules for broader efficacy and reduced toxicity. https://t.co/WkL4bmIahO
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 24, 2025
AI Investment Drives Half of GDP Growth, Reversal Risks Recession
According to today’s WSJ, AI-related investment accounts for half of GDP growth. A reversal would risk recession. We can’t afford to go backwards.
By David Sacks
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Model Prices Expected Near Zero, Margins Become Irrelevant
" The margins are the least thing that I'm worried about. We're taking into consideration that the prices of models will go down to zero." @MS_BASE44 How do you think about model costs over time? Right to assume close to zero? @destraynor...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Spotlight on USV’s Star Entrepreneur and Portfolio Success
Great read about a fantastic entrepreneur and @usv portfolio company (also featuring @BradUSV)
By Albert Wenger
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Tiny Carry, Massive Payout: VC Economics Explained
That new VC partner on your board? They might have say 5% carry in the fund Let's say you sell for an incredible $500,000,000 after 10 years. WOW! And the fund owns 15% The new partner then makes ... $750,000 $500m x 15% x...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 24, 2025
Key Investable Themes Highlighted in Slide
This is a slide I showed last year as well. These are investable themes. /2 https://t.co/Ahu2RPdjuo
By Michael Eisenberg
Social•Nov 24, 2025
What It Takes for OpenAI to Reach $500B
A spicy thought experiment: What would OpenAI have to do to hit $500 billion in annual revenue within the next five years? https://t.co/jxxTIIIqgC https://t.co/blAVz6cHUP
By CJ Gustafson