Global Startup Funding Went Up In 2025, Crunchbase Data Shows

Startup funding picked up in 2025 after three years where money either went sideways or fell back. Crunchbase data shows investors put $425 billion into more than 24,000 private companies during the year. That total came in 30% higher than the $328 billion recorded in 2024.

The year also produced record breaking moments that shaped the headline figure. OpenAI secured $40 billion in a single private funding round, the largest ever recorded. SpaceX reached a private valuation of $800 billion, another first. Google’s $32 billion purchase of cybersecurity firm Wiz became the biggest venture backed takeover on record.

Crunchbase ranks 2025 as the third biggest year ever for venture financing. Only 2021 and 2022 saw larger totals. The data makes clear that the rise did not spread evenly across the startup world. A small number of very large deals did most of the work.

Where Did The Money Actually Land?

The strongest flow of cash went to a handful of companies at the very top end of the market. Crunchbase data shows five firms raised more than $5 billion each during the year. These were OpenAI, Scale AI, Anthropic, Project Prometheus and xAI.

Together, those five businesses collected $84 billion. That single group accounted for about 20% of all venture capital invested worldwide in 2025. Crunchbase described that level of concentration as unprecedented for one year.

Big rounds fed directly into higher private company values. By the end of 2025, the Crunchbase Unicorn Board, which tracks private firms valued at $1 billion or more, approached a total value of $7.5 trillion. That marked an increase of more than $2 trillion compared with the end of 2024.

SpaceX led the ranking with an $800 billion valuation. OpenAI followed at $500 billion, ByteDance at $480 billion and Anthropic at $183 billion. Crunchbase said the rise in overall value stood far above the $400 billion increase seen during 2024.

Why Did The States Pull Ahead?

The United States took a larger slice of global startup funding in 2025. Crunchbase data shows $274 billion went into US based companies during the year. That figure represented 64% of all venture funding worldwide.

A year earlier, the US share stood at 56%. Between 2019 and 2023, it usually sat closer to 47% or 48%. The change reflects where the biggest deals happened, especially in artificial intelligence.

In cash terms, 2025 ranked as the second strongest year ever for US startup funding. Only 2021 came in higher. Crunchbase linked the result to heavy backing for large AI companies, many of which operate from the US.

Which Sectors And Stages Stood Out?

Of course, AI absorbed about half of all venture funding worldwide. Crunchbase data puts AI related investment at $211 billion in 2025. That came up 85% from $114 billion in 2024 and topped every year of the past decade.

Health care and biotech ranked second with around $71.7 billion, a bit higher than the year before. Financial services followed with $52 billion, from $41 billion in 2024. Aerospace, robotics, developer tools, cryptocurrency and defence saw higher totals than a year earlier as well…

Funding gathered pace as the year went on. The past five quarters all recorded higher totals than the one before. In the final quarter alone, investors committed more than $113 billion, according to Crunchbase data.

Late stage rounds made up $66.5 billion of that sum. Early stage funding reached $37 billion, up 36% year over year. Seed funding stood at $9.9 billion, flat quarter over quarter but 12% higher than a year earlier.

What Does This Say About Dealmaking?

Money gathered around fewer companies in 2025. Crunchbase data shows close to 60% of all invested capital went to 629 firms that raised rounds of $100 million or more. More than a third of global funding went to just 68 companies with rounds of at least $500 million.

On deal activity, global mergers and acquisitions reached their second highest level on record. In the US, dealmaking hit a new peak, helped by Google’s purchase of Wiz.

Crunchbase also recorded a reopening of the IPO market during the year. Bigger bets on highly valued private firms point towards larger public listings during 2026, which could lift venture funding again.