This edition of the Venture Beacon looks back at 2025 as a whole and delivers a detailed, data-driven look at early- and late-stage deal activity, valuation trends, and structural shifts in the venture ecosystem.
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Select Highlights from the 2025 Venture Beacon:
- Year-over-year valuation growth: Pre-money valuations increased 18% to 79% YoY across all stages.
- Series C performance: Series C deals in 2025 secured valuations 79% higher than those of 2024, with 04 outlier financings driving capital raised, valuations, and check sizes over 200% QoQ.
- Late-stage repricing continues: Series D+ valuations declined 45% QoQ in 04, with down rounds increasing to 20.2% for late-stage companies in the second half of 2025, while early-stage up rounds improved to 82.2%.
- Sector concentration at Series A: Industrials, Technology, and Financials outpaced other sectors by 10 to 15 percentage points in fundraising growth, demonstrating concentrated investor preference at the Series A stage.
- Al dominance in mega deals: Al companies represented the majority of financings exceeding $100M in 04 and maintained sector-specific premiums, with the highest advantages in Commercial Services, Consumer, Entertainment, Healthcare, and Technology.
- Deal terms reflect improved conditions: Pari passu structures returned to 75% of late-stage deals in 04, while pay-to-play provisions, dual class common stock, and liquidation preference multiples above 1x remained rare or declined, signaling continued retreat from investor-protective terms.