Venture capital in 2025: The year of artificial intelligence and mega-investment rounds

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In the startup world, 2025 will be remembered as the year of mega-funding rounds, especially in artificial intelligence. According to Crunchbase data, 15 companies globally raised individual rounds equal to or greater than US$2 billion, accumulating more than US$100 billion in total funding.

What stands out most is the dominance of generative AI startups, which captured the lion’s share of the funds. The largest round in history went to OpenAI, with a US$40 billion investment backed by SoftBank in March. Four other companies surpassed the US$5 billion mark in a single round.

With 2026 just beginning, we review the ranking of the largest rounds globally:

OpenAI – $40 billion: The SoftBank-led investment on March 31 is the largest in venture capital history. Softbank formed a consortium for $10 billion and financed the remaining $30 billion, partially with debt.

Scale AI – $14.3 billion: In June, Meta invested this amount in the training data provider, valuing it at $29 billion. Its founder, Alexandr Wang, and part of the team joined Meta.

Anthropic – $13 billion: The San Francisco unicorn closed a $13 billion Series F in September, with a valuation of $183 billion, led by Iconiq Capital.

Project Prometheus – $620 million (AI): This startup, focused on applying AI to physical tasks, launched in November with this initial funding. Jeff Bezos will be co-CEO alongside physicist Vik Bajaj.

xAI – $530 million: Elon Musk’s startup raised this amount in capital this summer. In just 2.5 years, it has raised more than $22 billion in equity and debt.

Databricks – $4 billion: In December, it announced a Series L round that values it at $134 billion. The company reported a revenue run rate of $4.8 billion, growing more than 55% year-over-year.

Anduril Industries – $250 million: The Costa Mesa-based startup more than doubled its valuation to $3.05 billion following a Series G round in June led by Founders Fund.

Anysphere – $230 million: Cursor’s parent company raised this amount in a November Series D round backed by Accel, a16z, Nvidia, and Google, with a valuation of $293 million.

The largest rounds in Latin America in 2025

The Latin American ecosystem was no stranger to global trends, showing signs of recovery and maturity in 2025. Investors bet on established late-stage companies and proven business models, with the fintech sector being the big star of the year, followed by business solutions (B2B).

Plata – $500 million: Although it was a credit/debt line led by Nomura, it was the largest capital transaction in the region. The fintech, founded by former executives from Volaris and Nubank, will use the funds to expand credit and challenge traditional banking in Mexico.

Klar – $190M: A Series C consisting of $170M in equity and $20M in debt, led by General Atlantic. This injection consolidates the Mexican fintech and brings it closer to unicorn status.

Omie – $160M: The Brazilian cloud ERP platform for SMEs closed Brazil’s largest capital round (Series D) of the year, backed by Partners Group, highlighting the flow of capital towards solid B2B companies.

Creditas – $108M: In an extension of its Series G alongside a strategic alliance with Andbank, the Brazilian unicorn demonstrated resilience by raising more than $100 million, despite an adjustment in its valuation.

Kapital – $100M: Its $100M Series C, led by Tribe Capital, made it a unicorn (valuation of $1.3B), positioning it as the region’s “first AI unicorn.”

Clip – $100M: The payments fintech received $100M from Morgan Stanley Tactical Value to accelerate its expansion in physical payments.

Canopy – $100M: This technology holdco, backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, raised $100M to acquire and scale B2B software in Latin America.

These rounds show that 2025 had two important trends: the first was a global race for AI supremacy, fueled by rounds of unprecedented scale, and the second was a Latin American market that, with lower amounts but greater maturity, consolidated its regional champions in key sectors.

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