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Retail has a technology problem: venture capital investors are not putting enough money into solving retail’s technology problems.
The gap matters a lot now because AI is creating new opportunities to improve profitability in other industries. But the investment ecosystem treats retail as a forgotten stepchild and software tools and the retail industry has fallen behind in the capital available to it. READ MORE
B Capital has named Andrew Jackson chief AI officer, a newly created position at the venture capital firm, the firm tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Jackson, who is joing from G42, will help B Capital develop AI tools, with plans to spin them out to other investors. READ MORE
Building a great product is one thing. Getting a company like Nvidia to put its name behind it is something else entirely.
In this episode of Build Mode, host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Sydney Sykes, who leads global venture capital alliances and partnerships at Nvidia, to unpack how startups break into the Nvidia ecosystem and what a corporate venture capital partnership actually looks like once they’re in. READ MORE
We have reached the middle of 2026, so it is a good time to look back at the calls and assumptions we made when the year started. In that spirit, PitchBook has put out its US Private Equity Outlook: Midyear Update. The report revisits the predictions made for US private equity at the start of the year and asks a simple question. Did they hold up?
When we walked into 2026, there was real optimism, and for good reason. We were coming off a strong 2025. PitchBook calls last year the second-best year on record for deal and exit activity. But as has become the new normal, trouble at home and abroad has cooled expectations for a full and fast recovery. READ MORE
Today, the American Investment Council (AIC) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) released a new report, “America at 250: How Private Capital Fuels American Dynamism,” examining the essential role private capital has played in fueling American economic growth, innovation, and competitiveness throughout the nation’s history.
Released in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, the report details how private investment has supported job creation, manufacturing, infrastructure, and innovation – and continues to do so, shaping America’s future. READ MORE
When it comes to centers for biotech innovation and expansion, well-established locations such as Boston and South San Francisco have long dominated the field. But in the last few years, an array of other cities have emerged to stake their claim by offering government incentives, new developments, a lower cost of living and other advantages.
These regions hope to ride the wave of the life sciences industry’s increased prominence since the pandemic. That attention has helped spark a global real estate boom, with more than 35 million square feet of lab and R&D space under construction in 2024, according to a report from real estate firm CBRE last year. READ MORE
Part one: the COVID boom, then a long winter. During COVID, biotech funding shot up to $48.2 billion in one quarter (2Q20). Then it slid downhill for two years as things cooled off. By late 2022, funding had dropped all the way to $10.9 billion a quarter. People started calling this stretch the "biotech winter."
Part two: a fake spring. In January 2024, investors suddenly got excited about biotech again. Everyone who had been waiting to raise money for two years tried to do it at the same time. Funding jumped to $47.2 billion in one quarter, almost as high as the COVID peak. It wasn't one giant deal. It was just a lot of companies rushing through the door at once. READ MORE
A new law set to take effect Friday, July 10, that limits — for the first time — private equity purchases of single-family homes takes aim at a practice blamed for reducing the availability of affordable housing. It's the latest example of how political adversaries in Washington are unifying over concerns that buyout shops increasingly make investments that critics say can gut businesses, raise prices and harm consumers. The Biden administration treated many sponsors as pariahs, accusing them of chasing short-term profits and exploiting a loophole that allows smaller assets to be consolidated without antitrust review. Private equity acquisitions were subject to intense scrutiny, with some unwound.
Under Trump, federal enforcers relaxed oversight of PE firms, declining to single them out for special treatment as state attorneys general sought to restrict their investments, especially in healthcare. READ MORE
Private equity’s recovery remains uneven. Deal activity and exit values have improved over the past two years, aided by better financing conditions for high-quality assets. Yet for many limited partners, the central question remains unchanged: When will capital begin to flow back at healthier levels? Longer hold periods, delayed exits and continued macroeconomic uncertainty have left investors focused less on paper gains and more on distributions from general partners. As a result, while fundraising remains constrained, LPs are seeing an evolution in investment structures that can help them meet liquidity needs. READ MORE
Private equity fundraising is showing signs of recovery, but the rebound is increasingly benefiting the industry's largest players, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
Global private equity fundraising topped $260 billion in the first half of 2026, putting the sector on pace to raise about 17% more this year than in 2025, according to PitchBook data. READ MORE
Biotechnology venture capital funding continued a multi-year surge in the first half of 2026, as strong public market performance and a spike in dealmaking activity helped spur interest in privately held drug startups, BioPharma Dive data show.
Data compiled by BioPharma Dive indicate that at least 68 biotech companies banked more than $9.1 billion in venture capital funding between January and June. The total amount raised represents the highest first-half sum since the start of 2022, among companies backed by the 26 firms BioPharma Dive tracks. READ MORE
Despite concerns that California's costs and regulations are bad for business, the state has attracted an unprecedented pile of capital this year, and no other state is even close.
The Golden State's deep pool of talent, rich investors and other tech infrastructure have made it ground zero for the artificial intelligence explosion. That has helped it attract more than $335 billion in venture capital funding this year, according to PitchBook's private market funding data released Thursday. READ MORE
There are many things eye-catching about the proposed offer for easyJet by Castlelake, the Minnesota private equity company, not least that when you download the official statement detailing its £5.5 billion bid for the airline from Castlelake’s website, the PDF is entitled: “Project Citrus Draft Release”.
I love ludicrous M&A codenames. I can only presume this is a reference to easyJet’s orange branding and “Project Donald Trump’s Fake Tan” was deemed unsuitable. READ MORE
The number of private equity exits slowed during the first half of 2026, as market uncertainty continued to prevent buyers and sellers from finding common ground on valuations.
Global private equity and venture capital firms announced 1,504 exits between Jan. 1 and June 30, down 6% from the 1,601 exits recorded in the first half of 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. READ MORE
More venture capital dollars were invested in U.S. companies during the first half of 2026 than in any full year, according to data released Wednesday by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.
By the numbers: U.S. companies raised $412.7 billion between January and June, a whopping 29% increase over what U.S. companies raised in all of 2025 and a 15% increase over the all-time record set in 2021.
Zoom in: The boost was driven by mega-rounds, with over 81% of the H1 2026 dollars going to deals of $100 million or more. READ MORE
The revival in global mergers and acquisitions is doing more than lifting deal volumes. It is reshaping how venture-backed companies achieve liquidity, with strategic acquirers increasingly using acquisitions to consolidate fragmented markets, deploy abundant capital and absorb businesses they have often backed for years.
Alphabet provides one illustration of the trend. Earlier this year, Google completed its $32bn acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz, the largest trade sale of a venture-backed business on record. Meanwhile, SpaceX — itself backed by Alphabet since a $1bn investment made a decade ago — has agreed to acquire Cursor in a deal reportedly valued at $60bn. Alphabet also participated in Cursor’s series D financing in late 2025. Together, the transactions demonstrate how large technology groups and their investment portfolios are becoming increasingly interconnected. READ MORE
Blue Origin is tapping outside investors for the first time, reportedly looking to raise $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation, a sign that appetite for private space companies has persisted past SpaceX's blockbuster IPO.
Blue Origin's decision to raise outside capital coincides with a rise in investor interest in space startups, not for rocket launches but as key AI infrastructure via data centers in space. In a May CNBC interview, Jeff Bezos said space data centers would become crucial as the cost of AI computing power rises. READ MORE
If you're lucky enough to get onto the bottom rung of the investment banking ladder through the analyst program of a major bank, you'll have to decide very quickly whether you want to stay in banking, or seek an exit opportunity on the buy side. Is it really worth making the switch?
A recent podcast featuring finance influencer High Yield Harry has unveiled figures for compensation in both banking and private equity/private credit, looking at pay for top quartile workers, and breaking down average weekly working hours. In banking, while hourly pay rises the longer that you're in the role, your working hours stay high all the way to VP, were top performers earn half a million dollars per year. READ MORE
With AI igniting an investor frenzy, more startups are achieving unicorn status every month.
Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the VC-backed startups that became unicorns in 2026. While most are AI-related, a surprising number are focused on other industries like healthcare and even a few crypto companies. This list will be updated throughout the year. READ MORE
The artificial intelligence investment boom of 2026 represents one of the most significant capital allocation shifts in modern financial history. With AI companies now capturing over 50% of global venture capital funding and major tech giants spending billions on AI infrastructure, investors are grappling with a fundamental question: Is this a speculative bubble reminiscent of the dot-com era, or is it the dawn of a genuine technological transformation that will reshape the global economy?
The evidence increasingly points toward a nuanced reality. While certain segments of the AI market—particularly infrastructure plays with unclear monetization paths—show bubble-like characteristics, the underlying demand for AI chips, software, and services appears structurally sound. Nvidia's confirmed order pipeline of $1 trillion through 2027, AMD's accelerating growth with 76% projected earnings increases, and real productivity gains from AI adoption suggest this boom has substance beyond mere speculation.
For investors, the key is distinguishing between companies riding the AI hype wave and those building sustainable competitive advantages in a market that could exceed $1.3 trillion by the end of 2026. READ MORE
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