🎯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
Podcast•Nov 17, 2025•1h 11m
Synthetic Data and the Future of AI | Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez
In this episode, Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez discusses how synthetic data has become essential for training AI models, enabling enterprises like Salesforce and Dell to scale intelligence securely across cloud environments. He explains Cohere's approach to building flexible, deployable AI that integrates with any enterprise system, highlighting the strategic advantage of synthetic data in reducing bias and data privacy concerns. The conversation also covers the competitive dynamics among AI labs, emphasizing the race to innovate while maintaining security and compliance.
By Grit (Kleiner Perkins)
News•Nov 17, 2025
Backflip Raises $10M in Equity Funding
Backflip, a Charlotte, North Carolina‑based real‑estate fintech platform founded in 2020, announced a $10 million equity raise. The round was led by FirstMark Capital alongside LiveOak Venture Partners and Vertical Venture Partners. The capital will be deployed to broaden the company’s...
By FinSMEs
Podcast•Nov 17, 2025•1h 2m
20VC: Andrew NG on The Biggest Bottlenecks in AI | How LLMs Can Be Used as a Geopolitical Weapon |...
In this episode, Andrew Ng identifies the biggest bottlenecks slowing AI progress—data quality, compute costs, and talent scarcity—while arguing that large language models can become geopolitical tools for influence and misinformation. He debates whether traditional profit margins still matter and...
By The Twenty Minute VC (20VC)
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Execs Must Practice Their Own Roles to Succeed.
Every time I see a CRO that doesn't sell themselves, they fail. Every time I see a CTO that doesn't code themselves, they fail. Every time I see a CMO that doesn't market themselves, they fail. Every time I see a...
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Build for Users, Not Just for Funding
It was never “build what’s fundable” and it isn’t now. It’s always been: make something people want. This comes from users and customers and the needs of others.
By Garry Tan
Blog•Nov 16, 2025
20VC Newsletter - 16th November 2025
The episode features three separate interviews: Everett Randle of Benchmark explains why mega‑funds prioritize capital velocity, proposes new AI‑company valuation metrics, and shares lessons from Mary Meeker; Rory O’Driscoll and Jason Lemkin discuss a looming Palantir valuation correction, the accelerating...
By Harry Stebbings
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Funding Space Fusion, Not Just a Consensus Engine
We're funding space fusion and your take is we're building a consensus machine Maybe you need to look harder
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 17, 2025
Microsoft Pivots to Agent‑centric Infrastructure Business
"Our business, which today is an end-user tools business, will become essentially an infrastructure business in support of agents doing work." — Satya Nadella Microsoft talking about their view where the value accrues : agent infrastructure https://t.co/1TaxJpOeCB
By Tomasz Tunguz
Blog•Nov 14, 2025
Y-Combinator Pitch Deck Framework: Access 50+ Decks That Raised Over $450M.
In this episode, Sahil S breaks down Y Combinator’s proven pitch‑deck framework for seed‑stage startups, outlining a clear slide structure—from title and problem to traction, market size, and the ask—while emphasizing narrative simplicity and investor memorability. He highlights why a...
By Sahil S
Social•Nov 16, 2025
Profitable B2B Marketing SaaS with Strong Moat
This is an incredible business. Live on @acquiredotcom: Top-ranked B2B marketing education SaaS serving global teams and pros. > $3.25M ARR > $1.65M TTM profit > globally recognized SaaS + education + brand trust = serious moat Full listing: https://t.co/qKWsmO2tpo https://t.co/97g300eS6r
By Andrew Gazdecki
Social•Nov 15, 2025
VCs Vanish When Growth Is Steady, Not Hyper
I have a seed investment I made years back now at $130m ARR now growing 40% and cash flow positive. And all the VCs have checked out. They haven't been mean about it. Everyone is nice. It's...
By Jason Lemkin
News•Nov 14, 2025
Theo Ai Lands New Funding
Theo Ai, an AI‑driven prediction platform serving Am Law 200 firms and corporate General Counsels, announced the creation of a General Counsel Advisory Board and a new funding round led by Run Ventures, pushing total capital raised above $10 million. The round...
By VC News Daily
Social•Nov 15, 2025
FoundHer House Empowers Women Founders Amid Funding Gap
Last year, women-led startups received just 2% of total venture capital funding a number that hasn't changed much in more than a decade. That's why stories like this one matter. Two of our USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy student...
By Tina Sharkey
Social•Nov 15, 2025
Minority Recap Keeps Control, Majority Sells Liquidity
The fundamental difference between a minority and majority recap: Control. If you sell a majority of your business, you'll receive a high level of liquidity, but all the key decisions will now be out of your control. With a minority recap, you'll retain...
By Michael Lyon
Podcast•Nov 14, 2025•1h 2m
The Brutal Truth About Biotech: Why $2B Per Drug Is Killing Innovation
In this episode, venture capitalists Elliot Hershberg and Lada Nuzhna examine how soaring drug development costs—now around $2.5 billion per approval—are stifling biotech innovation, identifying three key forces they call the "three horsemen" that drive expense. They contrast the U.S. model...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 15, 2025
Harry, Rory, and Jason Return Live at SaaStr London
We're back! Harry, Rory and Jason! And come see the team LIVE at SaaStrLondon.com 1-2 in ... London!!
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 14, 2025
Key Takeaways From My Chat with Nihal Mehta
This was a fun conversation with Nihal Mehta of Eniac Ventures https://lnkd.in/eKaqvudG
By Chris Fralic
News•Nov 13, 2025
Tom Priore: What Pro Teams Need From Their Payment Platforms
Tom Priore, CEO of Priority, unveiled Priority Sports – a fintech platform built specifically for the complex payment ecosystems of professional and collegiate sports teams. It automates contract‑linked payouts such as NIL deals and performance bonuses, provides invoice‑level, multi‑party reconciliation,...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 14, 2025
AI Transforms Flexport Hackathons Into New Product Roadmaps
Flexport is at $2B annual revenue and just getting started. AI is so powerful it has turned internal hackathons into roadmaps for entire new product lines https://lnkd.in/g5pueCR7
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 14, 2025
Take the 2025 VC Compensation Survey by Nov 20
Everyone, It's that time of year when folks start to think about comp. In conjunction with the All Raise team, please find the link below. Please complete the following survey by Thursday, November 20th. We will share the results with all participants. As...
By Richard Kerby
News•Nov 13, 2025
Build Mode Starts at the Beginning: How Forethought AI Found Product-Market Fit
In the debut episode of TechCrunch’s Build Mode podcast, co‑founder Deon Nicholas explains how Forethought AI achieved product‑market fit by obsessively targeting its ideal customer profile and delivering tangible value before chasing hype. The company’s “7‑Failure Rule” encouraged rapid iteration,...
By TechCrunch Venture Feed
Social•Nov 14, 2025
Securing 18‑Month Runway at Startupfest
Thank you for having me at Startupfest! (Btw, I'm raising for 18 months of runway...)
By Elizabeth Yin
Social•Nov 14, 2025
PalabraAI Acquires Talo AI, Adds Live Translation
Big news for 776 co @PalabraAI: they just acquired @Talo_AI Their API already powers enterprise tools and custom apps & now they’re bringing real-time translation to video calls and live events. Oh, and they also snagged #1 Product of the Day on...
By Alexis Ohanian
News•Nov 13, 2025
After 5 Months, the $1,200 Bottles of Besties All-In Tequila Are Finally Starting to Ship
The $1,200 Besties All‑In tequila, launched by the All‑In podcast hosts in June and sold out in its 750‑bottle run, has finally begun shipping after a five‑month delay caused by the handcrafted, collector‑style bottle. Distribution partner Flaviar pushed the delivery...
By TechCrunch Venture Feed
Social•Nov 14, 2025
AI‑Powered UGC Game Platform Hits $200K ARR Fast
Sagaland is a UGC games platform where players create and remix games using AI. They're starting with interactive story games and have hit $200k ARR in 4 weeks. Congrats on the launch, @srijanyaham & @jeankaddour! https://t.co/YaxXFAbBZq https://t.co/gW8rmK8AJq
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 13, 2025
LPs Struggle with Large, Non‑Concentrated Portfolios
It's rare that I see spicy quotes from Limited Partners, but Ben Choi had a great quote at the most recent Kauffman Fellows Summit about why becoming and remaining a venture capitalist can be hard. It sparked a conversation between...
By Charles Hudson
News•Nov 13, 2025
The 10 Companies that Just Launched From Betaworks’ Latest Startup Camp
Betaworks unveiled the ten startups graduating from its 13th Camp, a 13‑week biannual residency focused this year on "Interfaces" that shape how users experience AI. The cohort includes Nora, a browser extension that tracks shopping habits; Primitive, a voice‑driven idea‑to‑task...
By TechCrunch Venture Feed
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Solana Signals New Era of Global Financial Infrastructure
Wow. 六 A masterclass on the future of global finance from a crypto savant who bet big on Solana and ironically… has zero interest in bitcoin. New Origins with Kyle Samani, Managing Partner of Multicoin Capital Transparency, speed, and global access are reshaping...
By Beezer Clarkson
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Game Data Unlocks Real-World Insights and Competitive Edge
Amazing how valuable the game data is for real world data. Only games have action on controller and reaction in the world in a physics accurate way. And if you have data from thousands of games and tens of millions...
By Vinod Khosla
Blog•Nov 13, 2025
How Big Is AI Spend, Really? | What 180M Job Postings Reveal About AI’s Impact. | VC's Turning Into a...
The episode breaks down the massive scale of AI infrastructure spending, now at 1.6% of U.S. GDP and projected to approach $1 trillion annually by 2030, dwarfing historic economic mobilisations. It also highlights Europe’s narrowing valuation gap with the U.S. at...
By Sahil S
Social•Nov 13, 2025
First H100 GPU Powers AI Data Center in Space
Starcloud (@Starcloud_Inc1) recently made history by launching a satellite with an NVIDIA H100 into orbit — the first time a GPU that powerful has ever operated in space. It's the first step toward building AI data centers in orbit, powered...
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Stamina Wins: Persistence Turns Long‑Term Vision Into Payoff
It’s near impossible to beat someone who just doesn’t give up. I learned that racing marathons: you hit a wall, you feel awful, you may think you're done—and then somehow you find another gear. The same thing happens as a founder. And...
By Angela Strange
Podcast•Nov 13, 2025•44 min
The Frontier of Spatial Intelligence with Fei-Fei Li
In this episode, a16z partner Martin Casado chats with AI pioneers Fei‑Fei Li and Justin Johnson about the evolution from early AI winters to deep learning breakthroughs like ImageNet, and how those advances paved the way for spatial intelligence and Large...
By a16z Podcast
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Join Us Live with Harry Stebbings at SaaStr AI London
We're BACK and it's GOOD TIMES folks!! And come see Harry Stebbings + me LIVE in London Dec 1-2 at SaaStr AI LDN!
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 13, 2025
AI Masks True Talent, Turning Hiring Into Stagecraft
Hiring used to break because companies moved too slowly. Now it breaks because candidates move too fast. AI gave every applicant the ability to look qualified before they have proved anything. Resumes are AI-polished. Writing samples are AI-written. Coding tests get solved...
By Hiten Shah
Podcast•Nov 13, 2025•6 min
VC10X Micro - The Big Short 2.0
The episode dissects Michael Burry’s newly revealed 13F bet shorting Nvidia and Palantir, arguing it could signal an AI bubble as smart money like SoftBank pulls back, valuations soar, and spending outpaces profits. It outlines three warning signs Burry cites,...
By VC10X
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Lancey Automates PRs by Learning From Customer Channels
Lancey (@trylancey) is the multiplayer coding agent that builds what your customers want. Lancey scans your customer channels, builds an understanding of your codebase, and one-shots PRs. All in the background, without human prompting. Congrats on the launch, @_adipatel_ & @itsmeabhipatel! https://t.co/IpxLow4PtA
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Mascobot Becomes A16z’s Top Scout and Infra Partner
.@Mascobot is always a few steps ahead!! best @a16z scout now infra partner 🚀🚀
By Angela Strange
News•Nov 13, 2025
Cronvall Raises €3.9M in Funding
Cronvall, a Helsinki‑based industrial procurement technology firm, closed a €3.9 million funding round led by Greencode Ventures, Stephen Industries and Innovestor. The capital will be used to speed up international expansion and further develop its digital procurement platform, which links construction...
By FinSMEs
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Selfin Launches AI‑powered All‑in‑one Financial Platform
Selfin (@selfin_app_) is building the first AI Bank. They're starting with an all-in-one financial platform where you can connect all your financial products— credit, investments, crypto, 401(k)— and get personalized recommendations powered by AI. https://t.co/gnRinMZLUg
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Rejection Fuels Stronger Pitches, Like a Growing Hulk
Every founder who got rejected 39 times before their Series A reminds me of Hulk. The angrier they got, the stronger the pitch became.
By Niko Bonatsos
Podcast•Nov 13, 2025•22 min
The Future of Crypto, with Coinbase’s Emilie Choi
In this Masters of Scale episode, Coinbase President and COO Emilie Choi discusses how the company navigated the crypto winter and the operating principles that enable hyper‑scaling in a volatile industry. She shares insights on the future of money, the...
By Masters of Scale
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Solana Advocate Predicts Global Finance’s Crypto Future
🪙🧑🏫 Wow. A masterclass on the future of global finance from a crypto savant who bet big on Solana and ironically… has zero interest in bitcoin. New Origins with @KyleSamani, MP at @multicoin👇 https://t.co/v2gSJyqLX8
By Beezer Clarkson
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Build Production-Ready Voice Agents in Minutes
With @vogentai's Voice Agent Wizard, you can create an effective voice agent with just a short description. Trained on the design processes of thousands of production agents, their wizard helps you go from idea to production voice agent in minutes. https://t.co/tcT4wV3IPb
By YCombinator
Podcast•Nov 13, 2025•47 min
E650 | Patrick Odier (Lombard Odier & Building Bridges) & Enrique, Chi Impact Capital: Three Systemic Plays to Underwrite Now
In this episode, Patrick Odier, chairman of Lombard Odier and Building Bridges, outlines a pragmatic shift from risk‑avoidance to opportunity‑driven system redesign, highlighting circularity, energy electrification, nature‑based solutions, and materials as the core arenas for transition investing. He argues that private‑asset classes—especially...
By The European VC (EUVC)
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Founders Prioritize Safer Pesticides for Farmers From Day One
One of the things I love about these founders is how genuinely committed they are to discovering pesticides that are safer for farmers. Startups often talk about making the world better, but I can tell you this was their concern...
By Paul Graham
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Bindwell Secures $6M Seed to Accelerate AI‑driven Pesticide Discovery
Congrats to @tylerarose0, @navvye and Bindwell on their $6M seed! Bindwell is developing safer, targeted pesticides in-house that actually work, using custom AI models that are 4x faster than AlphaFold and can screen billions of molecules. https://t.co/eEh3ZnMdSl
By YCombinator
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Benchmark Your Pitch Deck Against 4,000 Startups
Wondering how you stack up? Try the new SaaStr VC Pitch Deck Analyzer. We’ll share how you stack up against 4,000 other start-ups. And we’ll provide you honest and confidential feedback on how to do better. Try it here -> https://t.co/S5UFYzoN7a https://t.co/3M6fas5f2w
By Jason Lemkin
Social•Nov 13, 2025
YC's 15‑Partner GP Team Feels Like a Dream
YC is a partnership of 15 GPs who have all these qualities It’s honestly a dream
By Garry Tan
Social•Nov 13, 2025
Rationalisation Kills Innovation—Burn the Ships
Rationalisation is a meat-grinder to innovation. It takes a breakthrough idea, applies yesterday’s thinking (market is too small, no one is asking for it, bigger existing opportunies), and in the end it dilutes, delays, and destroys innovation. So, yes, Burn the...
By Des Traynor