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Some of the buzziest startups in Silicon Valley share something in common: their founders once worked at Palantir.
The founders lean on other ex-Palantir executives and engineers for support and financing, tapping the network for hiring and funding. Venture-capital firms have sprung up whose mission is to invest in companies founded by people with Palantir experience. READ MORE
The number of reported venture capital financings decreased by less than 2% from 2023 to 2024, and the decline is likely to be largely erased once all 2024 deals have been reported. Total reported financing proceeds increased 31%, from $163.6 billion in 2023 to $214.3 billion in 2024, the third-highest annual proceeds figure on record, behind only 2021 and 2022. READ MORE
A new report by the nonprofit All Raise found that the percentage of women and nonbinary individuals in partner roles at leading firms has doubled in the past few years, despite market headwinds. All Raise CEO Paige Hendrix Buckner chatted with TechCrunch’s Dominic-Madori Davis about what’s driving the shift on this week’s Equity. READ MORE
To note that today’s fundraising climate is changing is a vast understatement. Among the top challenges, traditional venture capital is increasingly concentrated. Mega-funds are snapping up the lead positions on the hottest new offerings, while pushing smaller investors aside. For founders and funders alike, the traditional playbook is an increasingly high barrier for rising innovators to reach, resulting in fewer deals and fewer opportunities to scale. READ MORE
President Trump in a matter of months turned from a private equity critic to champion and much of that has come because of a deal involving AI, sources told JOBs.
Back in February when Trump was threatening to end one of private equity’s big tax loopholes, the treatment of carried interest, leading private equity moguls and their lobbyists told the White House they would rather work out an investment plan to boost US energy dominance – an important goal for the President, insiders with direct knowledge of the situation told me at the time. READ MORE
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that will let Americans invest their 401(k) retirement savings in cryptocurrency, private equity and real estate, marking a major shift in retirement investment options.
The order directed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Labor Department and Treasury to update their rules to give investors access to these alternative assets. READ MORE
In the past, the private equity world has been largely populated by ultra-rich investors, endowments and pension funds. That is about to change.
Retirement savers with 401(k) accounts are gaining access to the private investment market, which mostly pivots on privately held companies, rather than public ones. READ MORE
Jake Brukhman is a computer scientist who worked at Amazon and on Wall Street before founding CoinFund, one of the first venture capital firms dedicated to cryptocurrency investing. He is also the latest guest on Fortune’s new podcast Crypto Playbook (available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube) where Brukhman shared his insights based on a decade of investing—and offered some very practical tips for those coming to this market for the first time. READ MORE
AI soon may revolutionize venture capital, but not in the way that many investors think. READ MORE
"AI has impacted all walks of life, and investing is no exception. We see AI transforming all elements of the investment process," declared Rotem Shacham, Director at PSG Equity. This statement encapsulates the profound shift occurring within venture capital firms, as artificial intelligence moves beyond a mere buzzword to become an indispensable tool deeply integrated into the day-to-day work of partners and team members. READ MORE
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There’s been much talk about the Silicon Valley venture capital model being broken given the scarcity of successful exits over the past few years. But the standard VC playbook can still sometimes work as written, as shown by the blockbuster flotation of Figma on the New York Stock Exchange last week from which the design software company’s market value surged to more than $60bn on its opening day. The VC playbook goes as follows: READ MORE
Global dealmaking has reached $2.6 trillion, the highest for the first seven months of the year since the 2021 pandemic-era peak, as a quest for growth in corporate boardrooms and the impact of a surge in AI activity has overcome the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs.
The number of transactions to August 1 is 16% lower than the same time last year, but their value is 28% higher, according to Dealogic data, boosted by U.S. megadeals valued at more than $10 billion. READ MORE
With revenues likely to soar past $1 billion this fiscal year, the Big Ten’s deep pockets give its membership advantages well beyond its competition. But even for college athletics’ richest conference, the cash never seems enough in today’s ever-changing sports landscape. READ MORE
Global venture funding totaled $29.7 billion in July 2025, flat year over year and down month over month from the $43 billion invested in June, Crunchbase data shows.
Despite a month-over-month dip in venture dollars, July offered hopeful signs for startup investors: AI remains a funding juggernaut, and Figma’s stellar IPO performance could be the catalyst needed to unlock the public markets for dozens of high-growth, revenue-generating tech unicorns that have been waiting in the wings. READ MORE
The VC landscape is getting heated and expanding over AI, but another topic seems to be populating investment memos, GTM strategies and expansion plans. Tariffs, those seemingly boring policy tools, are redrawing the investment map across continents and deciding on winners versus losers in ways that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. READ MORE
Women are making strides in the venture capital world, according to a new report published by the nonprofit All Raise and as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
All Raise released a report that said 18.6% of the top roles at leading VC firms are held by women, which is double what it was in 2018. The survey also found that many women (a quarter of survey respondents) were promoted last year and that investors were still interested in backing underrepresented founders (75% of investors said they were looking to make such deals). READ MORE
A new buzzword for many VCs today is “rollups.”
This year, a slew of VC firms have turned to the PE playbook of buying and merging multiple similar small companies in the hope of building industry leaders. But unlike its big brother, VC’s secret sauce is technology, specifically AI. READ MORE
President Trump is considering whether to encourage retirement funds to invest in private equity, a financial sector that’s hungry for capital after shrinking last year for the first time in decades.
Trump is mulling an executive order that would instruct the Securities and Exchange Commission and Labor Department to guide directors of 401(k) and individual retirement account plans to make investments in private equity funds, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. READ MORE
As the AI investment landscape reaches greater maturity, investors are observing a decisive "shift from 'hype' to 'discipline'" in evaluation criteria. While AI undoubtedly offers what many describe as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," investors are increasingly demanding evidence of "sustainable growth and proven profitability" rather than accepting promises based purely on technological potential. READ MORE