In Q2 2025, venture funding reached US$94.6 billion, marking the third consecutive quarter above the US$90 billion mark and extending the recovery that began after the downturn in 2023 and early 2024, new data released by CB Insights show.

The figure brings the total equity funding for H1 2025 to US$219.1 billion, putting the year well on track to surpass both 2023 (US$266.7 billion) and 2024 (US$286.9 billion) in total funding raised.

While funding volumes remain robust, deal activity slowed slightly. Deal count declined 9% quarter-over-quarter to 6,028, the lowest level since Q4 2016, indicating larger average round sizes. In H1 2025, the average deal size climbed to US$25.5 million, up from US$14.9 million in 2024. The media deal size also rose, growing from US$2.8 million in 2024 to US$3.5 million in H1 2025.

AI dominates venture funding

In Q2 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) continued to lead the venture market, capturing 50% of total venture funding with US$47.3 billion and representing 23% of deals with 1,403 transactions. AI rounds remained significantly larger than the broader market, with a median deal size of US$4.6 million in H1 2025. AI also secured seven of the ten largest deals in Q2 2025, including four multi-billion-dollar rounds:

• Scale AI, an American data annotation company which provides data labeling and model evaluation services to develop applications for AI, secured US$14.3 billion from Facebook’s owner Meta in exchange of a a 49% stake;
• xAI, Elon Musk’s AI startup, raised US$5 billion in debt and US$5 billion in equity to support the development of AI solutions, a data center and its flagship Grok platform;
• Anduril, an AI defense startup, secured US$2.5 billion at a US$30.5 billion valuation after doubling its revenue in 2024 to about US$1 billion; and
• Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup launched by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, raised US$2 billion at a US$12 billion valuation in one of the largest seed rounds of all time.

Fintech comes in second

After AI, fintech was the second-largest sector by funding and deal count, accounting for 11% of all venture funding and 13% of deals in Q2 2025. Fintech secured US$10.5 billion across 804 transactions during the quarter. Within fintech, business-to-business (B2B) dominated the largest deals, capturing 60% of the top equity payments investments, and 50% of the top 10 equity banking rounds.

These companies provide financial products, services, or infrastructure specifically for other businesses. They benefit from steadier, recurring revenue streams through long-term contracts with businesses, making them appealing investment targets. Key B2B fintech deals in Q2 2025 included spend management provider Ramp’s US$200 million Series D at a record US$16 billion valuation, payments platform Dojo’s US$190 million private equity round from Vitruvian Partners, and business banking provider Airwallex’s US$150 million Series F.

Ramp is an all-in-one financial operations platform for businesses; Dojo offers cloud-native in-person and digital payment solutions; and Airwallex is a global payments and financial platform offering business accounts, payments, spend management, embedded finance, and more.

Other notable fintech transactions in Q2 2025 included Plaid’s US$575 million, the largest VC round during the quarter; Rippling’s US$450 million Series G; and Addepar’s US$230 million Series G. Plaid provides application programming interfaces (APIs) to help businesses connect to and access consumers’ financial account data; Rippling is a human resources (HR) and IT platform that helps businesses manage payroll, employee benefits, and workforce operations; and Addepar is a wealth management fintech that offers data aggregation and analytics software for investment advisors and family offices.

Stablecoin gains traction

Stablecoin is another rapidly growing fintech vertical, with year-over-year funding projected to reach US$10.2 billion in 2025, representing more than tenfold growth from 2024.

Notable transactions so far this year include a US$2 billion credit line for Avalon Labs; a US$2 billion investment by Abu Dhabi-based investment institution MGX into Binance; and a US$100 million credit facility for Flowdesk. Momentum is being driven by improving regulatory clarity. On July 18, US President Donald J. Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) into law, creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins and offering legal certainty. Corporate enthusiasm is also fueling much of this surge, with companies like Walmart, and Expedia exploring their own stablecoins to streamline global payments, reduce processing fees, and lessen reliance on traditional financial infrastructure.

Companies owned by Wall Street giants such as JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo are also considering launching a joint stablecoin. Stablecoins are rapidly evolving from a niche store-of-value in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, into yield-bearing assets and liquidity tools. These digital currencies are also increasingly being used for cross-border payments.

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