- Global VC rebounded modestly in 2024 to about $368B even as deal count fell to a seven-year low, reflecting more selective deployment.
- AI dominates funding, with mega-rounds lifting late-stage checks and concentrating capital among fewer startups.
- The U.S. captures over two-thirds of global VC while Asia-Pacific and emerging markets saw steep pullbacks.
- With power consolidating among large VC firms and exits shifting toward M&A, secondaries, and a fragile IPO window, investors and policymakers face widening access gaps.
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The primary article promotes a broadly positive view of venture capital (VC) as a global force for innovation, ecosystem growth, and inclusive development. It argues that VC enables breakthroughs in sectors such as fintech, biotech, clean energy, and delivers social and environmental impact, while also noting criticisms around geographic and demographic skew and excessive growth pressure. [Primary]
Real-world data largely corroborates that narrative—and sharpens its contours. According to KPMG, global VC investment in 2024 reached about US$368.3 billion, up from US$349.4 billion in 2023, revealing a modest rebound despite macro headwinds. However, the number of VC deals fell to ~35,685, a seven-year low, illustrating a disconnect: capital is available but being deployed more selectively.
AI is clearly the growth engine. In 2024, nearly half of U.S. VC funding—US$209 billion total—went towards AI startups; globally, AI-related firms pulled in over 50% of venture capital in early- to mid-2025. Massive rounds led by companies such as OpenAI, xAI, Databricks and Anthropic skewed the distribution of funding, pushing median values higher while squeezing smaller startups.
Geography matters. The U.S. captures over two-thirds of global VC funding, establishing dominance not only in total dollars but in exit activity and mega-rounds. Contrastingly, Asia-Pacific saw investment decline to a nine-year low, and the Americas—outside of the U.S.—have generally stagnated. Emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Türkiye and Pakistan, saw VC investment drop by ~40% YoY in 2024.
Power is consolidating among veteran VC firms. The number of active U.S. VC firms dropped from more than 8,300 in 2021 to about 6,175 in 2024. In 2024, just nine U.S. firms raised over half of all capital going to U.S. VC funds, squeezing out smaller or newer funds. Late-stage deals and corporate VC have absorbed much of the available capital.
Strategic implications emerge:
- For founders: achieving scale and demonstrating AI or tech-enabling utility are increasingly necessary to secure large funding rounds.
- For VC funds: staying competitive means specializing in high-growth sectors, managing concentration risk, and distinguishing value beyond just capital.
- For governments: to ensure equitable innovation, policies are needed to support early-stage entrepreneurs, reduce regional disparities, and encourage responsible AI investment and ESG alignment.
- Exit strategies: the IPO market remains fragile; M&A and private secondary markets are playing an outsized role in liquidity.
Open questions include: whether the AI funding boom is sustainable, how valuations and exits will evolve under macroeconomic pressure, and how developing markets will recover or adapt in the aggregate as capital shifts toward fewer hubs.
Supporting Notes
- Global VC investment rose from ~US$349.4 billion in 2023 to ~US$368.3 billion in 2024, while deal volume dropped to ~35,685 deals—its lowest in seven years.
- In the Americas, VC investment jumped to US$221.7 billion in 2024—led by the U.S., which alone accounted for US$209 billion.
- Asia-Pacific saw VC investment fall to US$78.8 billion in 2024, its lowest in nine years.
- AI companies secured ~46.4% of U.S. VC funding in 2024, up from under 10% a decade earlier; in early 2025, AI drew ~53% of global VC funding and ~64% in the U.S. specifically.
- The number of active U.S. VC firms shrank over 25% between 2021 and 2024, with the top nine firms capturing over half of the capital raised in 2024.
- Emerging markets VC investment fell by ~41% in 2024, with notable drops in Southeast Asia (~45%), Africa (~44%), and the Middle East (~29%).
- Median Series D+ deal values in the Americas rose from ~$55 million to ~$100 million year-over-year; Europe saw comparable increases.
- Global exit value in Q3 2025 reached US$149.9 billion, highest since Q4 2021, driven by IPO activity.