8 AI Unicorns Transforming Venture Capital

The amount of capital that flowed into AI startups in 2025 was nothing short of astonishing. Of the $512.6 billion venture capital firms deployed in the U.S. last year, more than half went to AI companies, according to Pitchbook estimates.

So which AI companies brought in the most cash? A whopping 55 startups raised $100 million or more, TechCrunch reported—up from the 49 that closed nine-figure funding rounds the previous year—and among those 55, nearly 10 raised $1 billion or more. Here are the eight AI unicorns from that group that raised the most capital in 2025. READ MORE

Continuation Vehicles: An Evolving Frontier in Private Equity Liquidity

Continuation vehicles (CVs) have evolved from niche solutions into mainstream strategies in private equity. These structures—new funds typically managed by the same sponsor that acquire assets from an older fund—are no longer just a workaround for stalled exits. They’ve become a strategic tool for unlocking liquidity while preserving upside on high-conviction investments.

Traditional exit routes like IPOs and M&A have faced headwinds, leaving sponsors searching for alternatives that don’t force premature sales. CVs offer a solution: extend ownership, optimize timing, and keep compounding returns alive. When executed well, they’re not a one-off fix but a scalable capability that differentiates sponsors. READ MORE

Private equity’s strategic pivot

Private equity (PE) firms are undertaking a strategic pivot as they respond to market pressures, geopolitical uncertainty and ageing portfolios. With trillions in dry powder, sponsors are accelerating monetisation strategies, favouring take-private deals and sponsor-to-sponsor transactions. This shift reflects a broader recalibration of risk, valuation and exit timing. As regulatory scrutiny eases in some regions, PE firms are targeting resilient sectors such as infrastructure, energy and technology, reshaping the M&A landscape with bold, capital-intensive plays and long-term value creation strategies. READ MORE

Private Equity And Venture Capital: How AI Changes Value Creation

Artificial intelligence is forcing a fundamental rethink of how Private Equity and Venture Capital firms evaluate and create value in their portfolio companies. Traditional investment metrics need updating as AI transforms industries.

In interviews with Caroline Ohlsson, who leads AI initiatives at European private equity firm Verdane, and Sanjot Malhi, a partner at venture capital firm Northzone, both offer contrasting but complementary perspectives on how investors are adapting to create value in the AI era. READ MORE

Defense tech startups had their best funding year ever in 2025

Defense-technology startups had their best funding year ever in 2025, with investors keen to finance autonomous systems and artificial intelligence for the battlefield, according to data from business-intelligence providers that track venture capital funding.

The value of venture capital deals in defense technology jumped to a record $49.1 billion last year from $27.2 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by PitchBook and shared with Defense News. The PitchBook data includes startups that provide dual-use technology, including companies whose primary markets are civilian but also have defense applications. READ MORE

Andreessen Horowitz Makes a $3 Billion Bet Against the AI Bubble

An artificial intelligence startup that helps developers write and debug code is now worth nearly as much as United Airlines. A two-month-old AI computer company raised a massive $475 million seed round, with plans to secure even more financing soon. And a platform for ranking AI models is now valued at nearly $2 billion, less than a year after it was spun out of an academic project. READ MORE

Rogue agents and shadow AI: Why VCs are betting big on AI security

What happens when an AI agent decides the best way to complete a task is to blackmail you?

That’s not a hypothetical. According to Barmak Meftah, a partner at cybersecurity VC firm Ballistic Ventures, it recently happened to an enterprise employee working with an AI agent. The employee tried to suppress what the agent wanted to do, what it was trained to do, and it responded by scanning the user’s inbox, finding some inappropriate emails, and threatening to blackmail the user by forwarding the emails to the board of directors. READ MORE

The Private Equity Executive Talent Trends That Will Define 2026

Private equity is still a capital business, but it’s increasingly a leadership business. Deal flow isn’t what it was a few years ago and capital is more selective, according to a new report from Beecher Reagan. “Many funds are sitting on dry powder longer than expected,” the report said. “And when that happens, the spotlight shifts from buying to building.”

That shift is already changing which roles matter most inside portfolio companies and even inside funds themselves. Heading into 2026, here’s where Beecher Reagan sees as the pressure points emerging across private equity and portfolio companies in professional, business, & technology services. READ MORE

Private equity recruiting returned with its usual chaos — and better candidates

The hiring restart came just as first-year bankers returned from the winter holidays. Firms began outreach for 2027 associate roles they had originally planned to fill in the summer, before banks cracked down on the practice. In recent years, the timeline had crept steadily earlier, with 2024's process kicking off in June, before many analysts had even hit the desk.

Blackstone, Apollo, KKR, and Thoma Bravo were among the more than a dozen firms that interviewed candidates and extended offers, according to people familiar with the process. Some firms declined or did not respond to requests for comment. But sources said the cycle's customary theatrics — late-night interviews, exploding offers — were back in full force. READ MORE

Competing In An Era Of Accelerating Disruption

I believe few leaders fully realize the speed at which technology cycles are accelerating. Major inventions used to take decades to become widely adopted; today, they can transform entire sectors in a matter of months. For instance, the telephone took 75 years to reach 100 million users, but the internet reached that milestone in only seven years, and GenAI in several months.

This acceleration presents a challenging reality for most executives: markets are developing faster than most enterprises realize, and disruption increasingly comes from competitors outside of the traditional boundaries, driven by technology innovations. READ MORE

Andreesen Horowitz, Hadrian and Valinor detail their newest capital raises

Two firms highlighted in this summary of venture activity in the market describe their plans for investing in more businesses. READ MORE

More money, fewer winners: Inside venture capital’s uneven comeback

So, why did Andreessen Horowitz just raise 15 billion bucks? Let’s ask Ben Horowitz.

The entrepreneur and co-founder of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm said he’s looking to back the USA.

“At this moment of profound technological opportunity, it is fundamentally important for humanity that America wins,” Horowitz said in a Jan. 9 statement. “There is no other country that comes close to giving everyone a chance to grab that opportunity and build.” READ MORE

The Return of the IPO Could Spell Trouble for Private Equity

Going public used to be a sign that a company had made it. In the last decade or so, however, IPOs started to become a little … cringe. That could change this year, as initial public offerings seem poised for a comeback — which in turn could provoke a long-overdue reckoning not only for tech optimism but also for private markets.

IPOs in 2026 could be big and splashy, such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as smaller and quieter, with many lesser-known technology firms also filing. In some ways this is an encouraging sign. More IPOs suggest confidence in the market and the tech sector, and it’s good for the economy when the best, fastest-growing companies are available to investors in the public markets. But there is also a less optimistic take. READ MORE

Marc Andreessen says being controversial gives his VC firm an 'incredible competitive advantage'

Most executives wobble at the thought of controversy. Marc Andreessen embraces it.

The venture capitalist and cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz has been a lightning rod for Silicon Valley, voicing his opinions loudly and publicly. That includes drawing a fair share of backlash — something he seems unfazed by. READ MORE

How a Harvard grad helped make Hyperliquid the biggest new player in crypto—with just 11 people and no venture funding

The alarm jolted Jeff Yan awake at around 5:00 a.m. It was a ringtone designed to—among other scenarios—blare out when something abnormal occurs on Hyperliquid, the decentralized crypto exchange he had cofounded. And on this morning in early October, things were very abnormal indeed. READ MORE

A16z’s $15 Billion Fund Vacuumed Up A Fifth Of Venture Dollars Raised Last Year

Andreessen Horowitz has raised $15 billion for five new growth and venture funds in one of the largest-ever fund raises for a venture capital fund.

The fund raise will see Andreessen Horowitz’s backers plow $6.7 billion into a new growth fund, and $5.1 billion across three funds focused on apps, infrastructure and “American Dynamism.” The massive haul more than doubled its $7.2 billion raise in 2024, and marks a huge leap from its biggest raise to date of $9 billion in 2022. READ MORE

See the US regions getting the most angel funding

Angel group investors are often underappreciated when evaluating the health of an innovation ecosystem. 

They lack visibility compared to large institutions and later-stage investors. There is also little consensus on the role angel groups should play in supporting innovative ecosystems — even if evidence shows they tend to boost startup performance. READ MORE

VCs predict enterprises will spend more on AI in 2026 — through fewer vendors

Enterprises have been piloting and testing different AI tools for the past few years to figure out what their adoption strategy will look like. Investors think that period of experimentation is coming to an end.

TechCrunch recently surveyed 24 enterprise-focused VCs and an overwhelming majority predicted enterprises will increase their budgets for AI in 2026 — but not for everything. Most investors said this budget increase will be concentrated and that many enterprises will spend more funds on fewer contracts. READ MORE

Venture Capital industry 2026 outlook: will it all be about AI again?

The VC industry boomed in 2025, but it became very selective. Money was flowing again, but only to a small part of the market.

And while most headlines spoke of rebounds and record rounds, many founders still could not raise.

That tension defines the outlook for 2026. Venture capital was frozen post-2021, but now it is filtered. READ MORE

Venture Capitalists Likely to Continue Pivoting Away From Climate in 2026

Investors in climate technology have butted up against changing regulations, a loss in support for environmental policies and the growth of artificial intelligence this year. In 2026, they are expecting more of the same, but there is some hope for the sector if it can adapt. 

“It’s been hard to be in an environment where climate has become a dirty word,” said Amy Duffuor, co-founder and general partner of Azolla Ventures, a Cambridge, Mass.-based early-stage investor. READ MORE