We analyzed trends in venture investments in startups, fast-growing companies, and scale-ups.

Overall, venture investments grew significantly until 2021, driven by low U.S. Federal Reserve rates and low bond yields. According to Crunchbase [1], the total venture investments reached USD 702 bn. However, with the rise of key interest rates, the popularity of venture investments has decreased, returning to levels seen between 2017 and 2020. Crunchbase estimates the 2024 volume of venture investments at USD 313.6 bn, Dealroom with USD 392 billion [2]. Notably Pitchbook estimates the American venture investment market at USD 354.6 billion in 2021 and USD 209.04 billion in 2024 [3].

From 2010 to 2024, there was a clear overall trend of increasing investment across most industries. This indicates a general expansion of capital allocation across various sectors over the 14-year period. However, there were significant year-over-year fluctuations for each industry, particularly those involving scale-ups and unicorns, which attracted major venture investments.

In absolute terms, venture investments in enterprise software reached $93.6 billion in 2024 (23.3% of total investments), and venture investments in healthcare reached $67.9 billion (16.9% of total investments).

Overall investments in 2024 were 8.5 times greater than in 2010, but some industries outpaced this growth: robotics showed a 145-fold increase, food a 20.7-fold increase, and transportation a 20-fold increase. Interestingly, fintech also exhibited substantial venture capital growth, increasing 12.3 times compared to 2010.

This indicates that these industries have become the most active in innovation and the development of new technologies. The pandemic and AI technologies have accelerated growth in certain sectors in recent years, particularly semiconductors (3.5 times compared to 2019), energy (1.9 times), and health (1.4 times).

Industries with the least growth in venture investments since 2010 include media (2.6 times), marketing telecom (3.1 times), energy (6.6 times), and health (6.8 times). We attribute the smaller increase in venture capital in these industries to market maturity: innovation and R&D are already concentrated in large, established companies. Notably, the relatively small growth of the health sector is a consequence of its high base: venture investments in the sector grew from USD 9.9 billion to USD 67.9 billion (with a record USD 124.7 billion in 2021).

Venture investments in artificial intelligence have demonstrated significant growth. According to Dealroom, these investments increased from USD 1.34 billion in 2012 to USD 196.5 billion in 2024 (a 146.6-fold increase). Prequin (OECD.AI data) reports growth from USD 3.9 billion to USD 136.9 billion. Venture investments in AI companies now account for 20-30% of the total venture investment volume. Pitchbook provides an even higher estimate, placing the share of AI in the American market at 46%.

Notably, investments in artificial intelligence have not formed a distinct sector; instead, artificial intelligence has become a tool, a technology that drives innovation across various applicable areas, ranging from smart agriculture to enterprise systems and modern robotics.

The volume of investments in the top 10 AI (OpenAI, Databricks, Antropic, CoreWeave, xAI, Waymo, Infinite Reality, G42, ScaleAI, UiPath) companies has grown significantly faster than total investments in the broader artificial intelligence sector (. This represents a notable trend shift, driven by the sector's rapid growth and heightened attention.

Previously, the market was more diversified. In 2016, the top 10 companies accounted for approximately 1% of total AI startup investments; by 2020-2021, this figure had risen to 7%.

By 2024, the top 10's share reached 51%, indicating a substantial concentration of investments within these companies. Generative AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI are particularly prominent and attractive, operating at the forefront of technological development. It's important to note that these leading companies also operate in other industries, including cloud solutions and infrastructure (Databricks, CoreWeave), autonomous mobility AI (Waymo and Wayve), and applied business solutions (G42, ScaleAI), among others.

The growth trend of venture investments in AI is expected to continue into 2025. OpenAI (Generative AI) has already announced SoftBank investments of $40 billion, and Anthropic has secured $3.5 billion from Lightspeed Venture Partners and $1 billion from Google.

Notably, the investment threshold for new startups can now reach $1 billion even in early funding rounds (e.g., Safe Superintelligence, $1 billion in 2024; Xaira Therapeutics, $1 billion in 2024; Infinite Reality, $3 billion in 2025).

It's crucial to recognize that these figures represent only venture investments. They do not include investments by large corporations in research and development, new technologies, and applied solutions (e.g., Bing Copilot, Amazon AI, and various corporate systems), nor do they encompass investments in AI infrastructure (Microsoft and Amazon alone invested up to $20 billion in infrastructure and model training in 2024).

Corporate AI investments are projected to increase substantially. For instance, the recently announced "Stargate project" by Microsoft, OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, with approximately $500 billion in infrastructure investment, and Google and Meta's "hyperscaler" cluster projects are excluded from current estimates. Public data indicates Amazon's AWS AI service investments (Project Rainie) could also reach $100 billion.

In effect, AI investments are shifting beyond traditional venture capital, becoming a primary focus for major corporations.

An analysis of leading AI venture company investors reveals a concentration of large corporations, including BlackRock and SoftBank, as well as "Magnificent Seven" companies. Notably, Andreessen Horowitz funds roughly half of all AI companies, signifying a concentration of both investment targets and capital.

Consequently, early collaboration with large corporations appears crucial for smaller venture companies seeking successful exits.

‍

Sources:

[1] CrunchBase Global Funding Daya Analyses 2024, https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/global-funding-data-analysis-ai-eoy-2024/

[2] Dealroom, VC Investment Industries, https://app.dealroom.co/

[3] PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q4 2024, https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q4-2024-pitchbook-nvca-venture-monitor

‍

‍

#ai #artificialintelligence #venture #startups #growth #investments #deeptech #machinelearning #fintech #saas #funding #innovation #entrepreneurship #scalability ‍