US Ai investment boom in Q1 2025

Venture capital investments are picking up again, but only in the US. The global picture shows deals rising to $126.3 billion for 7,515 deals: the highest level reached since the second quarter of 2022. And this is enough to bode well for a year of recovery after the last two years of stalemate for the sector. Taking the lion's share once again is the United States, but with a larger gap than in the past.

In the first quarter, the US recorded 3003 deals worth a total of $91.5 billion, more than double the figure for the same period in 2024 when there were 3995 deals worth a total of $42.4 billion, according to data compiled by PitchBook. Fewer but larger deals this year. Particularly impressive are the figures for investments in artificial intelligence, which hit a record high in the historical series from 2016 to date both globally and in the States. The latter saw 997 deals worth 65 billion, out of a total of 2,110 investments worth 73.1 billion worldwide. 71% of the total value of VC investments in the US, therefore, went to AI, a figure heavily influenced by OpenAI's $40 billion round. Excluding this latest deal, AI still accounted for 48.5% of the total invested in the quarter, with one-third of deals closed.

"The US market," comments Kyle Stanford, director of US Venture Research at PitchBook, "has become highly polarised: on the one hand, a few companies are able to raise unlimited capital, while most others continue to struggle with a funding gap.

On the exit front, PitchBook points to signs of vibrancy in this early 2025, thanks to the CoreWeave IPO, the announcement of the $32bn acquisition of Wiz (still nearing completion) and other listings of well-known brands. "However, outside of these major transactions, the liquidity market has remained weak: only 12 companies have completed IPOs and concerns about overall liquidity persist," Stanford points out, adding: "The lack of distributions continues to put pressure on the fundraising market. Only $10 billion in new commitments were closed in the first quarter, putting 2025 on a trajectory for the worst fundraising year since 2016."

The evolution of the sector in Europe is much slower and the size much smaller in comparison to the US ecosystem. The total value of venture capital investments in the first quarter stood at 17.1 billion in 1,852 deals, compared to 14.5 billion in 2,917 deals in the same period in 2024. "At a sector level, artificial intelligence became the sector with the highest deal value, while life sciences and fintech showed resilience," comments Navina Rajan, Emea senior private capital analyst at PitchBook, who adds: "Exit value had a weak start to the year. Despite recent market volatility, we expect increased IPO activity in Europe as valuations and volatility remain within favourable thresholds for a listing window. Finally, capital raising by European VC funds has had a subdued start, with most closings coming in at lower ranges than initially targeted. The largest investment vehicles closed so far in 2025 have been outside the UK'.