U.S. venture capital deal value surpassed its previous annual record by roughly 44% with a quarter still remaining. The quarterly PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report released today shows total investments reached $515.8 billion in the first nine months of the year. Massive artificial intelligence funding rounds drove the bulk of this growth. OpenAI Group PBC and Anthropic PBC raised more than $200 billion combined during the first half of the year.
Exits failed to keep pace with the influx of capital. Nizar Tarhuni, executive vice president of research and market intelligence at PitchBook, noted that the real story sits on the exit side. Initial public offerings remain delayed, forcing sellers to rely heavily on mergers and acquisitions to secure liquidity. A single transaction dominated third-quarter exit figures. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. executed a $60 billion all-stock purchase of Cursor developer Anysphere Inc.
Startups closed deals at a near-record pace
Startups continued closing deals at a near-record pace despite slowing venture-growth rounds. PitchBook estimated 5,012 deals closed in the third quarter alone. Artificial intelligence accounted for a record 82.7% of total deal value for the year. However, artificial intelligence's quarterly share declined steadily from January, dropping to 65.9% in the third quarter. Databricks Inc. secured the largest check of the third quarter at $5 billion.
The market accumulated a record 992 startups valued at $1 billion or more by the end of September. These companies carry a combined value of $5.7 trillion. Companies completing sales often accept valuations far below their previous private marks. Bending Spoons SpA acquired Airtable Inc. for $1.3 billion, down significantly from an $11.7 billion valuation. Secondary marketplace shares in companies that last raised money in 2021 trade at a median 59% discount.
US venture firms raised 108.5 billion dollars
U.S. venture firms raised $108.5 billion across 699 funds through the first nine months of the year, topping the full-year haul of 2025 by almost 39%. Megafunds of $500 million or more captured 78% of that capital while representing only 6% of new funds. Andreessen Horowitz closed funds totaling $23.8 billion. Meanwhile, emerging firms and first-time funds faced severe fundraising pressures. Bobby Franklin, president and chief executive of the National Venture Capital Association, warned that artificial intelligence innovation can obscure growing challenges within the broader fundraising market.
