What'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:
TRIP, a New York‑based drinks brand that markets calming beverages and supplements, secured $40 million in a funding round backed by celebrities Joe Jonas, Alessandra Ambrosio, Paul Wesley, Ashley Graham and consumer fund Coefficient Capital. The capital will be used to scale operations, broaden product development and deepen its retail footprint. TRIP’s products are already stocked in roughly 10,000 U.S. locations—including Target, Whole Foods and CVS—and in 50,000 stores worldwide, and the brand generated half a billion Instagram and TikTok impressions over the past year.
Today we are excited to announce that we are promoting Guy Wuollet (@guywuolletjr) to General Partner. We first met Guy in 2018 while he was studying computer science at Stanford, where he also rowed varsity crew. He initially joined the firm...
The Biggest Investing Lesson from Peter Thiel: "Peter creates incentive structures to test the conviction level of partners. For example, you can personally invest alongside the fund in a deal you are leading. If you do not, he will ask, do...

In this SaaStr AI episode, Jason Lemkin highlights Carta’s data showing AI engineers’ equity grants soaring up to 40% while salary growth remains modest, driven by an "AI or Die" mindset, big‑tech poaching, and perceived massive upside. He warns founders...
Today, legal software @goclio announces a round at $5B and presentation software @GammaApp at $2.5B valuations What do they have in common? Both were around well before the AI Era. Clio in 2008, Gamma in 2020. Being “AI Native” is critical to...

Sapphire Sport, the sports‑media‑entertainment venture fund of Sapphire Ventures, is spinning out and rebranding as independent firm 359 Capital. The new firm inherits the fund’s $300 million in assets under management, including a $181 million second fund that is halfway deployed, and will...
I have invested $200M into the UK in the last five years. If @RachelReevesMP implements “Exit Tax” all that funding will go overnight. That is countless jobs, companies and people who will lose out. Rachel, you have managed to steal our...

When it comes to AI, most firms are flying blind. But @getlaurel was built to show how people REALLY spend time, turning invisible work patterns into data that leaders can act on. Their latest report has the receipts ↓ https://t.co/0EQksPzRDU

In this episode, Howard Lerman reflects on the challenges of launching a second venture after Yext’s success, describing how he founded Roam as an AI‑augmented "Office of the Future" that lets people work from anywhere. He discusses the solitude that...
At @FortuneMagazine Global Forum, I shared about my ~$1M “overpayment” to help start @weareangelcity in 2020. Now, @NWSL expansion fees are ~$150M. That's a 150x return in 5 years. Billion-dollar women’s teams are coming soon. I hope @ChelseaFCW is one of...
Scoop uses AI agents to speed up drug trials, starting with IND filings. They automate this entire process, transforming scientific data into continuously updated regulatory documents ready for submission— compressing what used to take months into days. https://t.co/DiztbjPdiq

In this episode, Benchmark GP Ev Randle argues that traditional profit margins matter less for AI startups, emphasizing growth, data advantage, and network effects over short‑term profitability. He warns that mega‑funds will struggle to deliver strong returns because capital scarcity...
We help 2–3 founders get acquire’d every day on @acquiredotcom. Life changing moments for everyone involved. Pretty awesome to see it happen daily.
Exonic (@exonicai) is crowdsourcing drug discovery. By bringing biological AI and wet lab access to users around the world, Exonic is the first internet-native drug discovery company. Congrats on the launch, @thebrimacombe! https://t.co/d5EANW135H https://t.co/lHOPjDzvZh

Startups can attract top talent despite being unable to match big‑tech salaries by adopting generous, fair, and flexible equity‑centric compensation frameworks, as discussed by founders and investors at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Pulley’s CEO Yin Wu advocates offering equity in the...

this is a great piece that captures the current love affair that western startups and even some bigger companies have with chinese ai the models are intelligent, accessible, and open weight turns out some of your fav sf startups are built on...

The deadline to apply for the winter batch is tomorrow, November 10th, at 8pm PT! All you need is an idea: https://t.co/9hUZ0buEiU https://t.co/CNdCJWqtU7

In this episode, Naval and host Nivi argue that recruiting is the founder's most critical, non‑outsourcable function, shaping a startup's DNA and ensuring a high‑performing, low‑ego team that can execute the product vision. They stress that early hires must match...

This week we’ll cross 2,000 (!) VC Pitch Decks reviewed for FREE on SaaStr AI Try it here -> https://t.co/hVolcGvbUt - Real time scoring - Real time valuation based on 5,000+ rounds - Exact odds of funding based on top VC rounds this...

A margin this high for a task and workflow SaaS is insane. Live on @acquiredotcom: > $423k TTM revenue > $384k TTM profit > 5,000+ paying customers 20+ years in the market. Near zero overhead. Full listing here: https://t.co/Bu8ma6ccSD https://t.co/Y2sadhLoRe

In a live TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 interview, Vinod Khosla argued that AI will turn every profession into a startup opportunity and warned that Fortune 500 extinction rates could triple by 2035. He advocated building AI workers rather than mere tools, urging...
Kestrel (@kestrel__ai) is the agentic platform that unifies Kubernetes ops & security, replacing manual triage and on-call firefighting with autonomous investigations and one-click fixes. https://t.co/rcusxrmmmP Congrats on the launch, @ramanv_ & @Evanj80! https://t.co/i8lW9R9nAj
One market I cannot figure out in a world of AI is customer support. You have: Sierra Decagon GigaML Parloa Forethought Kore Cresta All of these have raised over $100M. and then oldies like Intercom Zendesk Help me out, how does this market shake out?
MiSalud Health announced a new investment round led by IGNIA, with participation from Redwood Ventures, Amplifica Capital, existing backers Ulu Ventures and Magnify Ventures, and client Taylor Farms; earlier rounds included Lowercase Capital and Samsung Ventures. The bilingual AI‑powered platform delivers...
For those wondering the LP sentiment @MeghanKReynolds does a great job explaining… 👇
Norra combines real-time tracking and AI to give nursing facilities the operational intelligence they've never had. No more overpurchasing or scavenger hunts, just instant answers, streamlined operations, and lower rental spend. https://t.co/lVxWk71pgk https://t.co/yNQSy8ERfV
SoftBank and OpenAI have formed a 50‑50 joint venture called Crystal Intelligence to market enterprise AI solutions in Japan, marking SoftBank’s first direct partnership with the OpenAI ecosystem. While the deal appears to be a straightforward expansion, analysts on TechCrunch’s...
A VP mis-hire is always tough. A VP Sales mis-hire can set you back a year in sales. A VP Marketing mis-hire can lead you down massive time and money ratholes that don’t get you any more customers. But,...
If judged based on consumer adoption, AI chatbots are the most popular technology ever. If judged based on poll numbers, they are the least popular. How to explain this? A big part of it is the Doomer Industrial Complex —...
Founders, for the love of God; send investor updates. 1. Leverage them for help with customer intros, hires and fundraises. 2. Use them to create excitement and conversation about you in market. 3. Because these people have trusted you and...
Christopher Lier built LeadGen App as an internal tool. Turned it into a SaaS, grew it with SEO, and never raised a dollar. When he sold on @acquiredotcom, he knew what his startup was worth and waited for the right buyer...

We're two weeks out from SaaStr AI London (December 1-2), and I wanted to break down the must-attend sessions if you're serious about deploying AI agents in your B2B company. Not the theoretical stuff. The tactical, in-the-trenches playbooks from companies...
.@sauravml was studying CS at UIUC just a few months ago, surrounded by cornfields and lecture halls. Now he's in San Francisco building Fleetline, a place where being ambitious and taking risks feels completely normal. Anyone can make that leap. https://t.co/gNl84ElBrq https://t.co/DQ43vW8HGW
Many startup founders claim they are building something nobody else sees yet, but their pitch deck comp landscape slide has 7 companies doing the exact same thing. Easy fix: remove this slide from your pitch deck.

I love when founders turn passion projects into profitable businesses. A Shopify brand built for vets and healthcare pros. > $142K TTM revenue > $130K TTM profit > 17% YoY growth > Low overhead Full listing on @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/ddxifCeDgi https://t.co/CsDd7W2XxK
Startup founders who aren't irrationally obsessed with their startup are just rationally employed people with worse health insurance and lower pay.
Congrats @roelofbotha on an incredible 23 years at Sequoia! You’ve helped shape a generation of founders and investors. None of the scoops or noise can take away from what you’ve achieved and the legacy you leave behind.
https://t.co/wJCDi1KWOl (@s2_streamstore) is the serverless API for unlimited, durable, real-time streams. Streams are now a dead-simple cloud storage primitive. Congrats on the launch, @shikhrr, @sgbalogh0, and @quettabitxyz! https://t.co/2JXcYtSXvb https://t.co/xQoRfmprtG
One @fiftyyears portfolio company IPOed on NASDAQ the same day another appeared on the cover of Time. Pinch me.

The new SaaStr AI VC Matchmaking tool has already made 183 VC intros in its first 2 weeks Try it here -> https://t.co/ZbU9L2c0td https://t.co/HXWF2pE3Gx
Before YC, @therishic was working a regular 9–5, frustrated by how slow things moved and fighting to build anything new. Now, as co-founder of Kastle (YC S24), he’s able to finally build products that people really want. https://t.co/gNl84ElBrq https://t.co/p3nNZhky1p
Most founders think hiring is about interviewing. But it's actually about selling. For Startup School, @juicebox_work co-founder & CEO @davepaffenholz joins YC's @harjtaggar to share how early-stage founders can find, pitch, and close top engineering and sales talent— from crafting better...

Startup culture feels very different these last few years. This analysis of the 'new' Y Combinator under @garrytan's leadership highlights shifts: • YC founders are younger, averaging ~26 years old • More graduated from a top 20 university, now more than 50% • Massive...
Technical founders who build amazing products but can't get distribution are like master chefs with Michelin recipes cooking at their mom's kitchen.
VCs explaining why a portfolio company needs to IPO at 100x revenue is like teaching your kid to swim by throwing them off a yacht!
Bill is one of the best seed investors in the business. Incredible job opp for someone:

Back to YC — without which we’d never be where we are today https://t.co/8BQ8ijpA4a
"If you haven't captured any AI budget for your start-up yet, your team failed. They had all of 2025 You had to grow faster due to AI in 2025. Twilio, Mongo, Snowflake, startups like WorkOS and RevenueCat all did. The budget was...
Meaty Friday piece on Sequoia Capital's leadership shakeup, OpenAI's executive communications fumbles, and much more https://t.co/Lbioa0Q8SP
We are ramping up our founder and investor events in 2026. Where should we host them?