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For a long time, smaller venture funds leaned on the same advantages: speed, flexibility and deep sector expertise. Conventional wisdom held that while big firms moved slowly, smaller ones could act swiftly, write early checks and provide highly targeted support in a narrow space.
That story no longer holds up. READ MORE
Private markets are fundamentally transforming public markets in the United States. A surge in private capital flows is keeping some high-growth-potential companies private for longer, intensifying business competition among public and private firms, and causing more public companies to be taken private. This is shifting the investment landscape, but the effect is most acute on small-cap stocks because smaller companies have weaker fundamentals and fewer competitive advantages compared with larger firms. READ MORE
From venture capital to AI capital?
Silicon Valley continues to set the pace for global innovation. In 2025, scaleup investments reached $111 billion. Of that, a staggering $103.5 billion — 93% of the total — went into AI. In a nutshell, “VC investments” in Silicon Valley now essentially mean “AI investments.”
For every dollar invested in technology, 93 cents flow into AI. The artificial intelligence sector is literally gorging on venture capital. READ MORE
The Federal Reserve last week cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, lowering the federal funds rate to a range of 4%–4.25%. This move — the first since December 2024 — signals a shift toward monetary easing amid a softening labor market and persistent inflation.
Why the Fed rate cut matters for private equity
The rate cut is particularly impactful for private equity (PE) firms operating in the lower middle market, where deal economics are more sensitive to borrowing costs and capital availability. Here’s how: READ MORE
President Donald Trump’s recent executive order encouraging the use of private market assets in 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans is a potential game-changer for retirement plans across America.
It will prompt many questions and rulemakings from the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding transparency and fiduciary duty. But it also prompts the need to challenge, test and establish the benefits of private markets for DC plans in the first place. READ MORE
In the venture capital world, the once-ironclad path from a prestigious MBA program to a coveted associate role at a top firm is showing signs of strain. Recent data indicates that while MBAs continue to fill positions at venture firms, the industry is increasingly valuing operational experience, technical expertise, and sector-specific knowledge over traditional business school credentials. This shift reflects broader changes in how startups are evaluated and supported amid rapid technological advancements. READ MORE
The founder of RTW Investments believes biopharma’s five-year bear market is finally coming to an end.
In a client letter detailing August results, dated September 2 and obtained by Institutional Investor, the biotech hedge fund firm’s founder, Rod Wong, told clients, “We are increasingly optimistic that a biotech recovery could gain momentum. We continue to see a large number of asymmetric opportunities and are excited for a number of development-stage events and key new product launches this fall.”
Wong’s optimism is understandable. READ MORE
For founders, the latest trends don’t revolve around viral videos—unless venture capitalists say they do. Then those videos are the most important thing in the world.
That’s because savvy founders understand they need to know what VCs care about if they want to secure funding. Trends come and go, but if you’re not up to date, you’re falling behind. Thankfully, you don’t need to spend hours poring over social media content, news stories, or LinkedIn feeds to keep up. Fidelity Private Shares, in collaboration with Pitchbook, did the heavy lifting for you with their Top Venture Capital Trends Startups Should Watch in 2025 report. READ MORE
Venture capitalists are buzzing over the Trump administration's plan to charge $100,000 for H1-B visas, and it hasn't quieted down after White House clarification that these will be one-time fees on new applications.
The big picture: Most VC reaction seems to be negative. Both because of the financial burden it could place on startups, making it that much harder to compete with richer incumbents, and also because of the longer-term risks it presents to American innovation. READ MORE
I have been in the venture capital business for 15 years, and I want to share some honest advice, especially for college students who are curious about VC. This is personal to me, I spoke at Web Summit on this very topic: “How to Land a VC Job."
My godson just started college, and I know how overwhelming the headlines can be right now. Tech layoffs, AI is killing jobs — It’s enough to scare anyone off. READ MORE
Stanford’s incoming class of graduate business students has returned from the annual Stanford-Harvard MBA yacht week in Croatia, trading sunburns and hangovers for class prep.
“The Mediterranean escapades of America’s future business leaders don’t help the MBA’s reputation as a program heavy on networking and light on studying. READ MORE
There’s never been a better or tougher time to pitch investors. Venture capital funding is on the rise, with North American startups securing $184 billion last year, a 21% increase over 2023. Yet, competition has never been fiercer.
As Crunchbase News has reported, fewer seed-stage startups are reaching Series A fundraising rounds. Investors are more selective, prioritizing businesses with clear differentiation and strong scaling potential. READ MORE
Stanford’s incoming class of graduate business students has returned from the annual Stanford-Harvard MBA yacht week in Croatia, trading sunburns and hangovers for class prep.
The Mediterranean escapades of America’s future business leaders don’t help the MBA’s reputation as a program heavy on networking and light on studying. READ MORE
Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, but some universities have a truly exceptional track record of attracting and producing future founders.
PitchBook’s annual university rankings compare schools by tallying up the number of alumni entrepreneurs who have raised venture capital in the last decade. The rankings are powered by PitchBook data and are based on an analysis of more than 173,000 VC-backed founders. READ MORE
An executive order signed last month by President Donald Trump aims to make it easier for workplace retirement plans like 401(k)s to offer investments in alternative assets, like private equity and private credit.
Supporters of the idea believe it would “democratize” access to investments that largely have been available only to institutions and very wealthy individuals. They say it would provide retail investors better exposure to the whole economy since so many companies choose to remain private. READ MORE
Some of private equity's biggest bigs are warning that their industry will consolidate, as some firms die of distribution thirst.
The big picture: Private equity dollars will continue to grow. The number of private equity firms, however, may be another story.
Driving the news: KKR CFO Robert Lewin and Apollo president Jim Zelter issued the alarms earlier this week, in separate speeches at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference. READ MORE
When Seth Winterroth left his job at GE Ventures to help launch Eclipse Ventures in 2015, robotics was on his mind. Or more specifically, the number of early-stage robotics startups that were struggling to launch due to lack of interest.
“These are teams that had just finished their postdocs at Waterloo, or CMU, or MIT, and were starting robotics companies, and the refrain that I continually heard from the startups was, ‘hey, we’re having a really hard time raising institutional venture capital,’” Winterroth told TechCrunch. “At the time in Silicon Valley, most venture capital was going into the very mature application layer or the application layer of some very mature computing platforms.” READ MORE
Two bills are currently being advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives that, if enacted, will significantly impact two key exemptions that venture capital funds and their managers often rely on. The Developing and Empowering Our Aspiring Leaders Act of 2025 (DEAL Act) would expand the category of qualifying venture investments to include fund-of-funds and secondary investments. The Improving Capital Allocation for Newcomers Act of 2025 (ICAN Act) would increase the size and investor limits for “qualifying venture capital funds” relying on the Section 3(c)(1) exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940. READ MORE
When it comes to raising venture capital, serial entrepreneurs have a distinct advantage over their first-time peers, according to PitchBook data.
This trend has been especially sharp in recent times as cautious investors have looked to safer bets—and it comes with potential consequences on the ecosystem. READ MORE
Family offices have ramped up their bets on stocks while dialing back their private equity bets, according to a new survey by Goldman Sachs.
Investment firms of ultra-wealthy families reported an average allocation of 31% to public equities, up 3 percentage points from the bank’s last poll in 2023. Over the same two-year period, their allocation to private equity dropped from 26% to 21%, the largest change for all surveyed asset classes. READ MORE