<p>Global VC investment surged from $118.7 billion in Q4’24 to a ten-quarter high of $126.3 billion in Q1’25, despite ongoing geopolitical conflicts and tensions, continued concerns about global trade and tariffs, and the delay of a major reopening in the IPO market. The overall increase in deal value was largely driven by a series of mega-rounds by AI companies, including a record-setting $40 billion raise by OpenAI, according to KPMG Private Enterprise&#8217;s <a href="https://kpmg.com/xx/en/what-we-do/industries/private-enterprise/venture-pulse.html" data-cmp-data-layer="{";venture-pulse-5e1c7c2919";:{";parentId";:";venture-pulse";,";@type";:";kpmg/components/content/text";,";dc:title";:";Venture Pulse";,";xdm:linkURL";:";/content/kpmgpublic/xx/en/what-we-do/industries/private-enterprise/venture-pulse.html";}}" data-cmp-clickable=""><i>Venture Pulse</i></a>—a quarterly report tracking investment trends globally across major regions around the world.</p>
<p>While VC funding rose considerably given the red-hot investment in AI, global deal volume continued to plummet, falling from 8,801 deals in Q4’24 to a record low of 7,551 deals in Q1’25. While many VC investors were optimistic heading into Q1’25, fresh uncertainties saw many pressing pause again on major deals outside of the AI space.</p>
<p>The Americas attracted $94.5 billion in VC investment in Q1’25—nearly three-quarters of the global total—with the U.S. accounting for $91.5 billion of this amount. Europe remained relatively flat, with $18 billion in VC investment raised across 1,883 deals, while the Asia-Pacific region continued to experience a significant slump, drawing only $12.9 billion in investment across 2,149 deals.</p>
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<h2 class="cmp-title__text"><strong>Q1’25—Key Highlights</strong></h2>
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<li>Global VC investment rose from $118.7 billion across 8,801 deals in Q4’24 to $126.3 billion across 7,551 deals in Q1’25.</li>
<li>In the Americas, VC investment rose from $80.9 billion to $94.5 billion quarter-over-quarter—including from $77.2 billion to $91.5 billion in the US—while Europe saw VC investment remain relatively steady at $18 billion; the Asia-Pacific region saw both VC deal value and volume fall to record lows—dropping from $18.9 billion invested across 2,522 deals in Q4’24 to only $12.9 billion invested across 2,149 deals in Q1’25.</li>
<li>Global corporate VC investment rose from $69.4 billion in Q4’24 to $80.8 billion in Q1’25; the US accounted for the majority of investment during the quarter ($65.5 billion), driven by large megadeals. At the other end of the spectrum, CVC investment in the Asia-Pacific region fell to a 10 year low of $5.8 billion during Q1’25.</li>
<li>The median deal size for Series D+ deals rose substantially in both the Americas and Europe—from $91.6 million to $96.2 million in the Americas and from $84.5 million to $177.5 million in Europe.</li>
<li>Exit value remained relatively muted, with just $78.2 billion seen globally. On a regional basis, exit activity increased somewhat in the United States but fell to only $6.6 billion in Asia-Pacific—the lowest level of exit activity seen in the region since 2015.</li>
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<h3 class="cmp-title__text"><strong>AI space remains red-hot in the eyes of VC investors</strong></h3>
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<p>AI remained the biggest ticket for VC investors globally in Q1’25, with the $40 billion raise by US-based Open AI breaking the record for the largest VC funding round ever recorded. During the quarter, US-based Anthropic and Infinite Reality also raised large rounds of $4.5 billion (two closings) and $3 billion respectively. Europe and the Asia-Pacific region also saw strong AI funding; in Europe, Sweden-based Neko Health raised $260 million and UK-based Synthesia raised $180 million, while in the Asia-Pacific region, China-based Neolix Technologies and Univista raised $137 million and $137 million respectively, Australia-based Harrison.ai raised $111 million, Hong Kong-based InSilico Medicine raised $100 million, and India-based Spotdraft raised $54 million.</p>
<p>During the quarter, China also saw three new AI models launched, including DeepSeek’s R1 AI model and new models by Tencent and Alibaba. The three models—all said to be more energy efficient than others on the market—further highlights the competitiveness of the AI space at the moment.</p>
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<h3 class="cmp-title__text"><strong>Megadeals in the US drive Q1’25 VC surge in the Americas</strong></h3>
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<p>VC investment in the Americas reached a three-quarter high of $94.5 billion across 3,331 deals in Q1’25, driven primarily by activity in the US, which accounted for $91.5 billion across 3,003 deals. The quarter was marked by a wave of megadeals in the large language model (LLM) space, including the standout $40 billion raise by OpenAI. Despite the jump in total investment, deal volume declined for the fourth consecutive quarter, underscoring continued investor caution in the region. While VC investors had been optimistic following the US presidential election, renewed concerns over tariffs and related market volatility introduced fresh uncertainty that tempered momentum.</p>
<p>Outside the US, Canada saw muted VC activity amid its intensifying tariff dispute with the US; Total VC investment in Canada fell to just $917 million across 148 deals — levels not seen since early 2018. In Latin America, Mexico saw VC investment drop from $626 million to $281 million quarter-over-quarter, although deal volume remained relatively resilient. Conversely, Brazil saw an uptick in VC funding—from $464 million in Q4’24 to $562 million in Q1’25, supported by strong CVC activity.</p>
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