And as was the case in the Q4 as well, Q1 was well above the prior five quarters by funding amounts, signaling that European venture funding may be gaining momentum.

Table of contents

• AI above 50%
• UK and France grew YoY
• Europe by stage
• In summary
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Still, Europe saw more capital going into fewer companies in Q1, with deal volume plummeting 40% year over year. Much of the decline was at seed stage (down 44%) and early stage (down 30%), while late-stage deal volume was in-line with the previous four quarters.

AI above 50%

Funding to Europe-based AI startups increased significantly last quarter, reaching $9.2 billion, or more than half of total venture funding to the region. That marks the sector鈥檚 highest proportion in a quarter on record.

The largest four rounds to startups based in Europe in Q1 were for AI-related companies. Data center builder , autonomous driving developer , and frontier lab for physical AI raised more than a billion each, and AI legaltech 鈥檚 funding totaled more than $500 million.

UK and France grew YoY

Startups from the U.K. and France raised more funding in Q1, totaling $7.4 billion and聽 $2.9 billion, respectively. Germany-based startups raised $1.9 billion, flat year over year.

France has emerged as the European leader for AI frontier labs. Last quarter, it saw Paris-based , founded by former AI chief , raise $1 billion in the continent鈥檚 largest seed funding round on record. The deal also marked only the second billion-dollar-plus funding deal for a European frontier lab, following s $2 billion round last year.

Europe by stage

In Q1, late-stage funding to Europe-based startups nearly doubled from a year ago. The largest rounds were across a variety of sectors, including AI hardware, fintech, agentic AI, productivity software, sensors, defense, e-commerce and energy.

A total of $9.2 billion was invested at late-stage across 83 deals, up 91% by amounts year over year.

Early-stage funding to the region鈥檚 startups fell from a year earlier 鈥� by around 20% 鈥� 附近上门 data shows. Early-stage investment totaled $5.3 billion in Q1 across more than 240 funding rounds. Within early-stage funding, larger Series A rounds predominated in semiconductors, energy and healthcare.

Seed funding reached $3.1 billion in Q1 across more than 790 deals. The funding total was up 50% year over year, but largely due to the $1 billion round for Advanced Machine Intelligence.

In summary

Larger rounds into critical sectors in AI drove European startup funding up in Q1. A mix of Europe- and U.S.-based investors led the largest fundings last quarter into AI infrastructure, frontier labs, autonomous systems and applications.

Overall, Europe is in-line with global trends as capital concentrates into the largest deals in sectors that are surging due to AI.

Related 附近上门 query:

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of April 2, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Illustration:

Overall, investors put $27.4 billion to work across seed- through growth-stage financings for Asian companies in Q1, per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 up about 20% from the prior quarter and nearly double year-ago levels.

Total funding also hit its highest level in more than three years, as charted below.

Funding went to bigger rounds, not more of them. Per 附近上门 data, deal counts were flat with the prior quarter and up incrementally from prior year levels. In general, deal counts haven鈥檛 fluctuated widely from quarter to quarter over the past few years, as seen in the chart below.

Table of contents

• Most gains go to China
• Funding rose across stages, with most going to later stage
• Early stage was strong too
• Seed also showed an upswing
• A record quarter for AI
• Looking up
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Most gains go to China

An estimated $16.5 billion 鈥� or 60% of all Asian startup funding 鈥� went to China-based startups in Q1. It was also the third consecutive quarter for increased Chinese venture funding, which hit a multiyear low in the first half of 2025.

AI funding drove the gains in China. The quarter鈥檚 largest rounds all went to AI-focused companies, including foundational model startup , agentic AI company , and AI-enabled robot developer .

After China, the next-largest venture funding recipient in Asia was India, with $3.8 billion in reported Q1 investment, the highest number in the past four quarters. A big chunk of the funding went to the quarter鈥檚 largest equity round, a $600 million financing for AI systems developer .

Below, we chart out venture funding by country to seven leading investment hubs in Asia, showing how regional funding has trended since 2023.

Funding rose across stages, with most going to later stage

Later-stage, early-stage and seed funding all rose sequentially in the first quarter.

Of these, later-stage and technology-growth deals captured the highest share of funding, estimated at $11.7 billion in Q1. The quarter鈥檚 largest late-stage round by a long shot was a $2 billion Series C for Singapore-based data center company .

Overall, it was the largest later-stage tally in five quarters, as charted below.

Early stage was strong too

Early-stage investment also rose in Q1, hitting its highest point in two years.

Per 附近上门 data, an estimated $11.2 billion went to Asian companies around Series A and Series B stages. That鈥檚 nearly double year-ago levels and up about 17% from the prior quarter, as charted below.

Seed also showed an upswing

Investors also poured more money into seed-stage companies, with AI as a core driver.

Around $3.6 billion went to reported seed and angel rounds in Q1, up 85% year over year and 45% quarter over quarter. Reported deal counts dipped a bit, indicating concentration of capital among a smaller subset of hot startups. However, we expect this number to rise over time, as seed deals are often added to the dataset weeks after they close.

A record quarter for AI

It would be remiss to close out a quarterly report these days without some mention of how much investment went to artificial intelligence.

For Q1, Asian startups in AI-related categories pulled in about $11.2 billion, per 附近上门 data, the highest sum we鈥檝e tracked to date.

Looking up

Overall, the quarterly numbers show increasing momentum in China鈥檚 startup ecosystem, fueling much of the rising funding totals in Asia. Investment to startups in India, Singapore and South Korea also rose sequentially in Q1, while funding to Israel declined some.

In sum, it was a solid quarter, peppered with signs of optimism about the regional startup pipeline going forward.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of March 31, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Illustration:

For perspective, we charted out total investment, color-coded by stage, for the past 12 quarters below.

Of that total, $761 million went into late-stage and growth deals, up 158% compared to the $295 million that flowed into such deals in the first quarter of 2025. It鈥檚 also up 203% compared with the $251 million in late-stage and growth rounds that were raised by LatAm startups in the 2025 fourth quarter.

Table of contents

• Mexico leads
• Fewer deals
• Some big rounds
• Investor POV
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Mexico leads

Nearly one-third of the total amount raised in the first quarter went to one startup. Mexico City-based , an online used car marketplace, secured a $300 million Series F financing led by and in February.

Notably, mostly due to that outsized round, Mexican startups outperformed their Brazilian counterparts in the first quarter, raising a total of $404 million compared to Brazil鈥檚 $240 million.

Historically, Brazil has been the powerhouse in Latin America for venture capital funding. But it鈥檚 not the first time in recent quarters that Mexico has topped Latin America鈥檚 largest country. Mexico also raised more funding in the second quarter of 2025.

Overall, the first quarter marks only the second time since Q2 2012 that Mexican startups raised more venture capital than their Brazilian counterparts in Latin America, our data indicates.

Fewer deals

Round counts and total dollars raised decreased substantially sequentially and year over year across angel, seed and early stages. Of the $1.03 billion raised by Latin America鈥檚 startups in the first quarter, less than 9% 鈥� or $92 million 鈥� was raised across the angel and seed stages.

That compares to $161 million raised across those stages in the fourth quarter of 2025, and $152 million in the same first quarter last year.

Just over 17%, or $179 million, was raised at early stages, significantly lower than the $690 million raised in the fourth quarter and $472 million in the same period last year.

We expect the Q1 deal counts to rise somewhat over time, however, as seed rounds in particular are commonly reported weeks or months after they close.

Some big rounds

While Kavak鈥檚 round was the largest financing in Latin America in the first quarter, it was not the only nine-figure raise the region saw in Q1.

Argentinian fintech raised $195 million at a $3.2 billion valuation in March in a round led by .

Other large deals that took place in Q1 include:

• Mexico City-based , a financial app built around stablecoins, raised $70 million in a round co-led by and .
• Buenos Aires-based , a payments infrastructure startup, landed a $55 million Series C financing co-led by and.

Notably, the largest rounds included participation from high-profile global funds, including Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital and Insight Partners.

Investor POV

, managing partner of New York-based , said his firm has made more than 60 investments in Latin America since 2022 鈥� steadily increasing its investment pace every year from 11 deals in the region in 2023 to 20 in 2025.

In his view, many of the global investors who began putting more funding into Latin America鈥檚 startups in recent years are still writing checks there. However, he acknowledges that some 鈥渕omentum鈥� investors have slowed down.

Still, 鈥渁lmost all of the long-term smart capital investors have remained very active,鈥� he said.

Last year was 鈥渁ll about stablecoins and fintech infrastructure鈥� for the region. We should expect more of that this year, along with increased AI use across all sectors and strong enterprise growth in Brazil, he told 附近上门 News.

Brazil continues to be Endeavor Catalyst’s top market, but it is watching startups across the region, including in countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and even smaller markets such as Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

Endeavor Catalyst has reason to be bullish on Latin America. Startups it has backed in the region are among the top performers of the firm鈥檚 portfolio. More than one-third (34%) of its 2026 Outlier class, which comprise roughly the top 10% best performers in its network, are from Latin America, according to Taylor.

, general partner at S茫o Paulo-based seed-stage firm , told 附近上门 News that his firm鈥檚 pace in Latin America has remained constant and 鈥渋ntentionally selective.鈥�

鈥淲e’ve always believed that seed in Latin America works best when you’re deeply involved with a small number of exceptional founders and not try to index the market,鈥� he noted.

But like many other investors, OneVC is also investing at an earlier stage.

鈥淥ne notable shift is that, as founding teams move faster than ever, often reaching product-market signal with leaner teams and AI-native tooling,鈥� Cartolano said, 鈥減re-seed is taking a larger share of our investments, and we expect that to continue being the case for this cycle.鈥�

Like Endeavor Catalyst, Brazil is OneVC鈥檚 primary market. It has a home court advantage, but as Cartolano notes, the country also has a lot going for it including being the largest economy in Latin America, one of the world’s most active early-adopter communities for new technology (, -native commerce, AI), and a regulatory environment 鈥� particularly in financial services 鈥� which in his view 鈥渢hat fosters innovation鈥�

As a secondary focus, interestingly, his firm is tracking an increasing number of strong Latino founders relocating to the United States to build companies.

鈥淲e like that,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey combine deep operational instincts from LatAm with access to the largest addressable market and most liquid exit environment.鈥�

He agrees with Taylor that global interest appears to be renewing in Latin America startups.

鈥淭here is no shortage of capital for the best companies in the region, regardless of the state, and we are seeing some large firms investing in LatAm for the first time or coming back after a long period,鈥� he said.

And while fintech has historically dominated when it comes to venture funding in Latin America, Cartolano said that fintech is now unsurprisingly giving way to AI-first companies that sell services, particularly to enterprises.

鈥淭he broader market is also shifting from consumer-facing models toward B2B, as enterprise companies are more incentivized than ever to adopt new technologies,鈥� he added. 鈥淥neVC is especially focused on GenAI companies that 鈥榮ell work,鈥� replacing headcount and outsourced services with AI-driven delivery at a fraction of the cost.

Related reading:

• In Q2, Mexico Surpasses Brazil In Venture Dollars For First Time In Over A Decade

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of March 31, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Illustration:

Venture firms that set up shop in the Texas capital city included , , and 1, among others. famously moved 鈥檚 headquarters to Austin in 2021, while also purchasing a house and establishing a residence there.

But as more employees returned to in-office work, Austin slowly seemed to fall out of favor with the tech community, some of whom said it had been overhyped as a startup hub.

There were reports of tech workers who had moved to the city during the pandemic and , saying they were going back to places like the Bay Area. Musk back to California in 2023.

Funding tops pandemic peak

Undeterred by the 鈥渢ourists,鈥� the startup and venture community in Austin kept plugging away. And those efforts are reflected in a surge in funding to startups headquartered there last year, with 2025 posting an all-time high for Austin venture investment, 附近上门 data shows.

Investment into Austin-based startups spiked 64.8% to $7.19 billion in 2025 as more investors poured money into companies based in the region, according to 附近上门 . That鈥檚 compared with the $4.37 billion raised by Austin-area startups in 2024 and tops even the $6.1 billion raised in 2021, at the height of the venture funding frenzy.

Notably, deal counts actually decreased from 312 in 2024 to 272 year over year, signaling an increase in later-stage deals. Indeed, the data corroborates that with $4 billion of the total raised in 2025 classified as late-stage rounds.

Last year鈥檚 totals were also more than double 鈥� 130% higher 鈥� than the $3.1 billion raised in 2023. That money was raised across 403 deals, signaling much smaller round sizes at the time and a more mature market.

A tech scene decades in the making

, managing partner of , doesn鈥檛 believe that the Austin funding performance in 2025 was anomalous.

Rather, he calls it 鈥渢he payoff from decades of compounding.鈥�

鈥淭alent density in venture categories such as software, fintech, health tech, defense and聽 robotics has reached a critical mass, driven by waves of Bay Area relocations, both full HQ moves and satellite offices, that brought technical, product and operational talent into the market,鈥� Flager said.

That talent eventually left to build new companies, he said, and the cycle repeated.

鈥淥n the capital side, the stack has matured across all stages, from pre-seed through growth, with local firms that have now cycled through multiple funds and understand the market deeply,鈥� Flager said. 鈥淟ayer in a business-friendly regulatory environment, a relatively lower cost of living, as well as a lower effective tax rate, and Austin becomes an attractive place to start and scale a company.鈥�

Former Austin Mayor saw so much potential in the city鈥檚 startup scene that he began a career in venture investing after his tenure ended in early 2023. (He now works for New York-based ).

Part of the city’s success as a startup hub stems from its reputation as a haven for mavericks and risk-takers, Adler has said.

鈥淢ost cities in the world, you try something, you fail; it’s hard to have access to the capital the second time,” he told co-founder in a in 2022. “In Austin, the civic folk heroes are the people that tried something and it didn’t quite work out and they worked on it until it did.鈥�

, founder of , a solo GP venture firm based in nearby San Antonio, said that it feels like Texas and the Austin metro area specifically are becoming more attractive to manufacturing- and engineering-heavy businesses.

鈥淪ome of that may be thanks to Tesla, and some of it may simply reflect the physical advantages of the state,鈥� he told 附近上门 News. 鈥淓ither way, this [surge in financing] feels less like hype returning and more like capital concentrating around a narrower set of serious, technically differentiated companies.鈥�

Deal sizes grow

That diversity among funded startups is reflected in last year鈥檚 investment totals for Austin, which were boosted by several large, late-stage deals across a broad range of industries.

The largest was a $1 billion Series C round for energy provider in October. New York-based led that financing, which valued the 2-year-old company at $4 billion.

Looking back, February in particular was a busy month for venture funding. That month alone saw the second-, third- and fourth-largest rounds in Austin for the year. They included:

• A February Series C round in which autonomous surface vessels maker raised $600 million at a $4 billion valuation. led the round for the defense tech startup.
• Also in February, , which provides endpoint management, security and monitoring, raised $500 million in Series C extensions at a $5 billion valuation 鈥� more than doubling its value from just 12 months prior. The funding came in separate tranches led by and 鈥檚 , with participation from other investors.
• Robotics company in February raised $415 million in Series A financing led by聽 and accelerator (A $520 million extension to that Series A was raised in February 2026, taking the total round to over $935 million.)

The findings correspond with Flager鈥檚 observations.

鈥淎 good chunk of the capital raised in Austin was driven by several large deals. Similar to what we saw across the U.S. in 2025, venture funding in Austin was more concentrated than it has been in the past,鈥� he told 附近上门 News. 鈥淩oughly 38% of the capital deployed went to the top five venture financings in Austin. I believe the top 10 deals nationally accounted for more than 40% of the capital raised last year. We’ll see if this trend continues into 2026 and beyond. The start of the year suggests it will.鈥�

, founding partner of , agrees, noting that from a dollars perspective, the surge in financings was driven by a handful of outsized capital-intensive deals in newer categories such as defense and deep tech.

鈥淭hese companies require a combination of technology, land for manufacturing facilities, and talent for manufacturing tasks. Austin has unique skillsets for that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t has a density of three things: talent in deep tech with , and many others moving to Texas in light of favorable business conditions with expertise in these industries; expansive land around Central Texas that is inexpensive, especially compared to California; and lower cost manufacturing-related labor especially given the surge in manufacturing jobs such as at Tesla in recent times.鈥�

Burgeoning industries

Once upon a time, Austin was better known as home to software and CPG companies. And while those types of companies certainly still exist, a number of other industries are growing increasingly robust, as the local investors have pointed out.

As with many top tech markets, Flager said Austin has long been strong for application and infrastructure software, which is currently being challenged by AI. In his view, that talent has migrated to building 鈥渜uality鈥� vertical agentic software and AI-native businesses.

鈥淲e are seeing these companies grow quickly and build scale, while using less capital 鈥� which is exciting,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he domain experts who built and scaled application software companies here over the last two decades are spinning out to build the next generation of native AI businesses.鈥�

The market overall is also broadening in interesting ways. Defense and autonomy have emerged as breakout categories, with Austin becoming one of the stronger markets in the country for dual-use and autonomous systems companies, noted Flager.

鈥淭he combination of software and hardware skills now in Texas, along with a business-friendly regulatory environment, has allowed Austin to take a leadership position in these important and developing markets,鈥� he said. 鈥淓nergy tech is also a natural fit given Texas’ grid scale and the surging power demands of AI infrastructure.鈥�

Finally, robotics and advanced manufacturing are also gaining momentum, driven by deep engineering talent and the ability to scale manufacturing near Austin cost-effectively, allowing engineers, executives and other factory employees to coexist and collaborate in close proximity.

Srinivasan noted that his firm is seeing strong activity in vertical AI companies, or companies that serve vertical markets with AI that is tuned on specialized proprietary vertical data, often targeting the services and labor expenditures by their customers.

鈥淭hese companies deliver 鈥楽ervices as Software鈥� with close to software gross margins and pricing models that are based more on usage and outcomes as opposed to the traditional seat-based models,鈥� he said.

Srinivasan also expects the city to continue to see large funding deals in defense and deep tech, given the combination of local strengths and robust global demand for such products.

Continued momentum

Investors and companies continue to be drawn to Austin. In late December, San Francisco-based venture firm in the city. One of the firm鈥檚 founders, , also announced that he had personally moved to Austin. The firm鈥檚 other founder, , had lived and worked in the city since 2022.

In late March of this year, Musk to build two semiconductor factories totaling 100 million square feet in Austin to supply advanced chips for and Tesla. The venture, known as Terafab, aims to manufacture 1 trillion watts of computing power per year, he said. Media outlets valued the initiative at nearly

Also this week, Barcelona-based AI health tech startup announced it will open an office and hire in Austin.

CEO told 附近上门 News that with the company鈥檚 New York office already established, the next step was not just expansion, 鈥渂ut choosing the right place to build.鈥�

鈥淎nd we chose Austin for one reason above all: talent,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s an AI health tech company, our success depends on attracting exceptional people across engineering, data and life sciences. Austin has rapidly become one of the most competitive talent markets. The city is one of the fastest-growing in the United States. This brings together deep tech expertise, entrepreneurial energy and a growing concentration of healthcare innovation. Ideal for our goal of building an R&D hub. 鈥�

Coelho also points out that Biorce has witnessed a 鈥渢rend鈥� of people moving from the Bay Area to Austin, noting that 鈥渢he quality of life has gained notoriety.鈥�

鈥淏ut for us, this isn鈥檛 about following a trend,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about building where the best people are 鈥� and where they want to be.鈥�

Related 附近上门 query:

Related reading:

• Only 2 States Saw Their Share Of US Venture Funding Rise Last Year
• Texas Startup Funding Declines, Led By Dip In Austin-Area Investment
• Lower Costs, Laid-Back Lifestyle Continue To Draw Tech Companies To Austin, Texas
• The 10 Biggest Rounds Of February: Saronic And NinjaOne Lead Big Month
• NinjaOne Snags $5B Valuation In Massive $500M Round
• Amid Record Robotics Funding, Apptronik Raises $520M Series A Extension To Boost Production Of Humanoid Robot Apollo

In 2025, only two states with a sizable venture scene saw a year-over-year gain in their share of U.S. venture funding: California and Washington. This held true even though several others, including New York and Texas, actually saw a pretty big bump in investment.

What gives? Well, last year saw a dramatic upward swing in North American venture investment, with annual startup funding up 46%. Artificial intelligence was the driver, with most investment going to companies in AI-related categories.

Not all geographies benefited equally. Across all categories, California drew the largest share of investment, at 64%. The next runners-up were New York, Massachusetts and Texas.

Overall, there were six states that captured 2% or more of U.S. venture funding last year, per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 a small group, but it鈥檚 not too atypical, as a few hubs reliably attract virtually all the capital.

To illustrate, we charted how investment share for the top six states breaks down over the past two calendar years.

Funding also rose year-over-year for each of the six states, as we chart below.

Deals and sectors that drove gains, by state

Leading sectors and rounds varied broadly by state. We previously covered the California companies whose huge funding hauls drove gains. Here are leaders in the other top states:

New York: For the second-largest funding hub, two of last year鈥檚 biggest funding rounds went to predictions marketplaces and . AI coding startup and food delivery provider were also investor favorites.

Massachusetts: The Boston area is known for its deep-tech prowess, and this showed up in the funding tallies. Fusion energy pioneer was the biggest funding recipient, followed by , a developer of brain-computer interfaces, and , which is focused on weight loss drugs.

Texas: Austin companies topped the list for Texas funding rounds last year. This included , a provider of residential backup battery systems, and , a developer of autonomous naval and maritime vessels.

Washington: The Pacific Northwest powerhouse has a fairly diversified startup scene, as evidenced by the largest funding recipients.These include nuclear power company , and reusable rocket developer .

Colorado: There鈥檚 very little snow in Colorado this winter, but plenty of capital has accumulated. Lead funding recipients include AI infrastructure company , which secured a $1.4 billion Series E in October, and quantum computing startup , which raised a $600 million Series B.

Other states

OK, so you may have noticed that there are 44 other states we didn鈥檛 discuss and which also do attract some startup investment.

This includes five that are under 2% of national funding but still pulled in over $2 billion last year:聽 Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia.

Seven others 鈥� Utah, Tennessee, Maryland, Ohio, Minnesota, Georgia and New Jersey 鈥� attracted $1 billion or more in startup funding last year and most saw year-over-year gains.

But because venture is so heavily concentrated elsewhere, these 12 states only drew about 11% of all nationwide investment.聽

Catalysts for change?

There鈥檚 no law, of course, that says venture investment must remain so geographically concentrated. Certainly there are base characteristics that make for a sustainable startup hub, including well-regarded research universities and a concentration of tech and biotech talent and employers. But a number of places meet these baselines, making them potentially fertile ground for greater investment.

Of late, however, capital seems to continue to concentrate on bold new ventures in the biggest existing hubs.

Related reading:

• What鈥檚 Fueling California鈥檚 Record Run For Startup Funding?
• North American Startup Funding Soared 46% In 2025, Driven By AI Boom

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The three most valuable American public companies all began as Golden State startups. And among the current lineup of today鈥檚 most highly valued and capitalized venture-backed companies, the top ranked are all founded or headquartered in California.

In recent quarters, the state鈥檚 dominance in startup funding has grown even more pronounced. Last year, California companies pulled in 63% of all U.S. startup funding at seed through growth stage, per 附近上门 data.

That鈥檚 a cyclical high, and well above anything we鈥檝e seen in recent years, as charted below.

What鈥檚 more, California is now so far ahead of any other state that even the notion of a race for first sounds ridiculous. The runner-up, New York, secured just 11% of startup funding last year, followed by Massachusetts with a measly 5%, and Texas with just 4%.

In short: We may love the narrative of new tech hubs arising to displace current leaders, but for now it looks closer to the realm of sci-fi than nonfiction.

All about the moonshots

It鈥檚 tempting to characterize California鈥檚 strong showing as an AI thing. After all, the largest funding rounds of late are for generative AI pioneers, with San Francisco-based alone hauling in $40 billion in a single round in March 2025.

In fact, California鈥檚 edge in AI funding is even greater than its lead across industries. Last year, companies headquartered in the state pulled in 80% of seed through growth funding for companies in 附近上门 AI categories. It was the highest share since we began following the space.

Meanwhile, the list of largest California funding recipients last year is also overwhelmingly AI-dominated, as you can see below.

Yes, but

However, we鈥檝e seen this plotline before. Across decades, Golden State startups have been on the leading edge of virtually every tech moonshot that later turned viable, from microchips to the backbone of the modern internet to the era of scalable apps and social networking. It鈥檚 not a coincidence it鈥檚 the capital for artificial intelligence as well.

Rather, California has a combination that鈥檚 so far proven impossible to top. Most obvious are deep talent pools tied to regional tech giants, labs and universities coexisting alongside an enormous supply of investment capital. Perhaps equally hard to replicate is a startup culture that accepts an uncomfortably high failure and burn rate in the pursuit of world-changing innovations.

California has plenty of critics, whose complaints largely converge on the notion that its leading cities are too expensive and that taxes are too high. However, no one is making the case that those obstacles have significantly impeded its track record to date.

Related 附近上门 query:

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While Europe鈥檚 venture investment did not grow significantly year over year, the region saw a shift to deep tech funding in 2025. Startup investment has also now maintained well above pre-COVID levels for the past three years.

Still, Europe notably has not seen the same AI-driven boost that North America has. Venture investment in North America-based companies last year soared 46% year over year, with mega rounds into AI-related companies leading the way.

Table of contents

• Quarterly uptick
• AI led for the first time
• UK leads but other countries gain
• Late stage grew in Q4
• Leading investors
• Above pre-COVID funding
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Quarterly uptick

European venture funding did gain steam in Q4, reaching $16.6 billion 鈥� up 20% quarter over quarter and 27% year over year 鈥� per 附近上门 data.

The largest rounds in Q4 were raised by London-based energy software provider , Finland-based smart ring , Paris-based customer engagement platform , Dutch online grocer , and London cloud GPU provider .

AI led for the first time

Last year, artificial intelligence was the leading sector for venture investment in Europe for the first time, with around $17.5 billion in funding to AI in 2025 compared to just over $10 billion in 2024.

Paris-based frontier lab raised the largest round in the year, close to $2 billion led by Dutch chip machine manufacturer . Other large European funding rounds raised last year in AI went to Nscale and Brevo as well as Munich-based defense manufacturer , London-based AI drug discovery , and Freiburg, Germany-based image frontier lab .

The second-largest sector in Europe in 2025 for startup investment was healthcare and biotech, with companies in the space raising around $13.4 billion.

The third-largest sector was hardware with around $10.8 billion invested. The total demonstrates Europe鈥檚 renewed focus on deep tech including investment in data centers, wearables, defense, quantum, aerospace, robotics and energy.

Financial services, once the leading sector in Europe鈥檚 venture scene, was only the fourth-largest sector for funding in 2025, with around $7.4 billion invested.

UK leads but other countries gain

The U.K., the leading country in Europe, raised around $17 billion. That represents about 29% of total European venture funding in 2025, down from a third of all funding in 2024.

Startups based in France raised $8.5 billion and Germany-based companies came in a close third with $8.4 billion. Each nation鈥檚 startups represented about 15% of funding to the continent last year.

Switzerland was the fourth-largest European country for venture investment in 2025, with $3.6 billion invested in its startups last year. The Netherlands was the fifth largest at $3.4 billion, and was followed by Spain ($2.9 billion) and Finland ($2.2 billion).

With the exception of the U.K., each of those countries raised more venture funding in 2025 than in 2024.

Late stage grew in Q4

Late-stage funding in Q4 reached the highest amount in two years. A total of $9.2 billion was invested across 87 deals, up 65% by amounts year over year.

Early-stage funding reached $5.3 billion in Q4 across more than 250 funding rounds, down 4% year over year.

Seed funding reached $2 billion in Q4 across more than 750 deals, inline with totals year over year.

Leading investors

Investors that led or co-led the largest fundings into the region鈥檚 startups last year were dominated by Europe-based venture and private equity firms. Firms that led or co-led from outside of Europe included a mix of venture or private equity firms from the U.S. or Asia.

Above pre-COVID funding

Funding in Europe did not grow significantly year over year in 2025, but was well above pre-COVID funding levels and growing in deep tech and AI. With a renewed focus on science, funding has also shifted toward cities across Europe with leading research institutes.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Jan. 4, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

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In total, investors poured $67.5 billion into reported seed- through growth-stage rounds for companies across Asia in last year, per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 a decline of about 6% from 2024, and the lowest annual total in five years.

The lackluster numbers resulted mostly from weak investment in the first half of the year. Momentum picked up in the latter half, boosted in particular by rising investment in Chinese startups.

Funding gains culminated in Q4, with $21.7 billion in reported investments. That鈥檚 a rise of 19% quarter over quarter, and 22% year over year. The increase was most pronounced for late-stage dealmaking.

For broader perspective, below we look at dealmaking across stages and country-by-country, as well as focus on AI-focused investment.

Table of contents

• Late stage
• Early stage
• Seed stage
• AI investment
• Country-by-country funding tallies
• The big picture: Restrained, but looking up
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Late stage

Later-stage startups received the largest share of funding, so that鈥檚 where we鈥檒l start.

An estimated $10.4 billion went to Asia-based companies at Series C and beyond in Q4, per 附近上门 data, the highest quarterly total of the year. For the full year, meanwhile, later-stage and technology growth investment totaled $30.8 billion.

For Q4, a few jumbo rounds for China-based startups played a big role in boosting the totals. These included a reported $874 million Series C for EV brand , a $600 million Series D for autonomous delivery vehicle provider , and a $500 million Series C for agentic AI company .

Early stage

Early-stage investors also ended the year on a positive note, with $8.9 billion in reported Q4 deals, the highest quarterly total of the year. For the full year, funding at Series A and Series B stages totaled $28.2 billion, down about 10% year over year.

A few large individual rounds lifted the tallies. This included , a startup focused on intelligent driving technology, and , an Israeli startup focused on artificial general intelligence, which each picked up $200 million financings.

Seed stage

Seed-stage investment moved higher in Q4, with $2.1 billion in reported deals, the highest total in the past four quarters. We expect the tally to rise a bit more over time, as well, as more deals are added later to the dataset.

For the full year, meanwhile, reported seed funding to startups in Asia was estimated at $8.2 billion. That鈥檚 down about 6% from 2024.

AI investment

Artificial intelligence investment also scaled to record heights in 2025, peaking in the fourth quarter.

For the full year, investment to startups in 附近上门 AI-related categories totaled $16.7 billion. Of that, just over 38% was in Q4.

Country-by-country funding tallies

While China鈥檚 startup funding remains far below historical highs, the country remains the leading destination for Asia鈥檚 venture investment. Next is India, followed by Israel, Japan and Singapore.

For Q4, we saw China widen its lead some, bolstered by large deals around electric vehicles, autonomous driving and AI infrastructure.

The big picture: Restrained, but looking up

Overall, funding tallies paint an image of an investment environment that鈥檚 constrained, but with some bullish undertones. One particularly positive indicator is that investment picked up in Q4, indicating momentum is upward, not downward.

Still, funding remains well below peak levels. So there鈥檚 a lot of catching up to do.

Correction: A previous version of the Asia Venture Dollar Volume By Annum chart contained incorrect data. It has been updated.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Jan. 4, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Related reading:

• Venture Funding In Asia Shatters Record For Year And Quarter鈥擳hanks In Large Part To China
• China Leads Asia Startup Funding Slide In First Half Of 2025聽
• Asia Startup Investment Up In Q3

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Overall, venture funding in the region increased to $4.1 billion across seed- through growth-stage deals in 2025, up from $3.6 billion in 2024. Investors active in the area who spoke with 附近上门 News also said they remain bullish on Latin America’s potential for startup innovation, particularly in financial services and as the region’s middle class continues to expand.

However, venture dollars invested in 2025 across such deals still totaled less than half of the $8.4 billion invested in 2022, and were a fraction of the amount invested in 2021, a record-setting year for the region鈥檚 startup investment levels.

In the fourth quarter, venture funding in Latin America amounted to $1.085 billion, down 16% from $1.285 billion raised by LatAm startups in Q4 2024, and up 1% from the $1.07 billion raised in Q3 2025.

Table of contents

• Brazil still leads
• Late stage and technology growth
• Early stage
• Seed and angel
• Investor POV: An inflection point
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

Brazil still leads

Following historical trends, Brazil remained the region鈥檚 top venture investment destination in 2025, followed by Mexico. In total, Brazil-based startups raised $2.1 billion during the year, up 10.5% from the $1.9 billion raised in 2024. Mexico-based startups brought in $1.1 billion in funding in 2025, up 53% from the $718 million raised in 2024.

For perspective, we charted out total investment, color-coded by stage, for the past 12 quarters below.

Late stage and technology growth

Of the total amount raised in 2025, $1.63 billion went into late-stage and growth deals, up 14% year over year. In the fourth quarter, just $251 million flowed into late-stage and growth deals, down 69% compared to $806 million in Q4 2024. That鈥檚 also down 39.2% compared to the third quarter of 2025, when startups in the region raised $413 million in late-stage and growth funding.

Notably, Mexico-based startups had the distinction of raising the three largest rounds of 2025. , a Mexico City-based startup offering credit cards, picked up $160 million in a March Series A led by at a $1.5 billion valuation. Then, just over seven months later, the fintech raised , more than doubling its valuation to $3.1 billion.

And, in late June, Mexico City-based fintech startup 鈥� believed to be Mexico鈥檚 largest digital bank 鈥�- announced that valued the company at $800 million.

Early stage

Meanwhile, early-stage investment surged in the fourth quarter of 2025 with $690 million flowing into startups, up an impressive 112% compared to the $325 million in Q4 2024. For 2025 as a whole, early-stage investment totaled nearly $2 billion, up 31.9% compared to the $1.48 billion in all of 2024.

Seed and angel

Seed and angel investment totaled $144 million for the fourth quarter, which marked a 6.5% decrease year over. For all of 2025, seed and angel investment amounted to $540 million, down 22% compared to the $692 million raised in 2024.

Investor POV: An inflection point

, a partner at who is based in Rio de Janeiro, told 附近上门 News via email that his firm is optimistic about Latin America because the region 鈥渃ombines scale, a young and increasingly digital population, and deep structural inefficiencies that technology can solve 鈥� especially across financial services, commerce, logistics, health, and education.鈥�

In his view, Latin America is now reaching a structural inflection point. Greater digital access, middle-class expansion, infrastructure investment and pro-innovation regulation 鈥� such as open finance in Brazil 鈥� are converging to unlock new business models across the digital economy, he said.

At the same time, significant inefficiencies remain, which creates more opportunity. In Brazil, for example, corporate credit represents around 32% of GDP, compared with roughly 73% in the United States, a gap that illustrates how much value is still to be created, according to Nicklas.

鈥淭he region has already proven its ability to build category leaders, and growing connectivity between the U.S. and Latin America reinforces Valor鈥檚 cross-border strategy, supporting both Latin companies expanding globally and global companies entering the region,鈥� he added.

鈥淟atin America is also emerging as a pragmatic laboratory for blockchain adoption, driven by real economic needs,鈥� he said.

Fintech and broader financial infrastructure are core focus areas for Valor Capital, including payments, digital banking, crypto and digital assets, and platforms that expand financial inclusion and efficiency, particularly in credit.

Brazil, in particular, is central to this thesis, he believes.

鈥淭he country has become a global benchmark for regulatory leadership, with what is often called the 鈥淏razil Stack鈥� 鈥� digital identity through Gov.br, instant payments via , and data-sharing frameworks such as Open Finance, alongside the development of Drex,鈥� he noted. 鈥淭hese modern rails materially reduce friction and create the foundation for a new generation of financial and digital products.鈥�

Beyond financial services, Valor is increasingly focused on enterprise and B2B software that digitize large, inefficient industries such as logistics, retail and services. The firm also invests in technology-enabled consumer, commerce and infrastructure plays, from mobility and logistics to edtech and healthtech.

, a Mexico City-based partner at , told 附近上门 News that her firm is 鈥渋ncredibly bullish鈥� on Latin America.

鈥淭he opportunity is still immense,鈥� she wrote via email. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still a region with deeply significant challenges, which translates into incredible opportunities for ambitious entrepreneurs.鈥�

The region is also still profoundly underinvested, in her view, 鈥渨ith major capitalization needs,鈥� especially in early stages.

鈥淎s a region, we have all the ingredients: strong technical talent, ambition, resilience, and massive opportunities,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd when you add capital that genuinely provides differentiated value, it becomes an incredibly exciting recipe.鈥�

As with Valor, fintech remains the asset class favorite for 500 Global. However, Mendoza believes there is room for disruption and capitalization 鈥渁cross every industry鈥� in the region.

partner noted that her firm has been investing in Latin America since 2020 and has backed more than 20 companies across the region.

Fintech makes up about half of Hustle Fund鈥檚 LatAm investments.

鈥淣eobanks and payments laid the groundwork,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e seeing a second wave of more vertical and infrastructure-driven fintech, SME financial services, underwriting, insurtech, and digital wealth.鈥�

Beyond fintech, Hustle Fund is also excited about AI-native enterprise and vertical software in under-digitized sectors like healthcare, logistics, manufacturing and back-office ops.

鈥淭hese are markets where strong fundamentals and capital efficiency really matter, and LatAm founders are building with that mindset from day one,鈥� Bryant told 附近上门 News.

While acknowledging that Brazil 鈥渟till matters a lot鈥� given its GDP and scale of outcomes, as in the case of , Bryant said Hustle Fund is currently especially excited about Mexico.

The country has become a 鈥渞eal regional hub鈥� as founders and operators relocate there, 鈥渄riven by nearshoring, proximity to the U.S., and a growing density of talent and capital,鈥� she added.

鈥淣etworks and capital are helping LatAm not only mature but compound, as experienced operators from Nubank, Newports, , and others are starting their next act, and global talent is being drawn to Mexico City in particular,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 especially excited about ecosystems with strong fintech talent like Colombia and technical talent like Argentina that could start regionally and expand, and founders coming out of overlooked geographies.鈥�

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Jan. 4, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Related reading:

• In Q2, Mexico Surpasses Brazil In Venture Dollars For First Time In Over A Decade
• Brazil Back On Top In Q3 When It Comes To Venture Funding In Latin America

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$4 trillion and 100,000 new companies.

These are the outcomes of a quarter-century of venture capital investments into startups.

Since the new millennium, $4.2 trillion has been invested into the global startup economy, producing 97,982 scaleups.

Of these, 7,030 have raised more than $100 million. We call them the Scalers. And 473 have surpassed the $1 billion mark in capital raised. We call them the Super Scalers.

These are just some of the findings of the latest report, produced by with for the held in Paris last month.

The innovation paradox: Nothing seems to move

While comparing the world鈥檚 Startup Atlas 2025 with the 2024 edition, one thing becomes clear: despite the 鈥渘ew economy鈥� continuing to generate industry disruptors at a steady pace 鈥� with nearly 8,000 new scaleups added since January 鈥� the overall picture of global innovation remains largely unchanged.

And for much of the world, that鈥檚 not good news. The balance of power has barely moved.

• North America continues to dominate, with 43% of the world鈥檚 scaleups, while attracting an even larger share of capital 鈥� now exactly half of all global scaleup investments.
• The APAC region maintains its second-place position, with about 27,000 scaleups (27% of the global volume) that have raised $1.3 trillion (31% of total capital).
• Europe remains stuck in third place, failing to gain relevance. The Old Continent is actually getting 鈥渙ld,鈥� accounting for 22% of scaleups but just 13% of global investments. In other words, Europe doesn鈥檛 have enough companies, and even worse, they鈥檙e under-capitalized.
• The Middle East, Latin America and Africa still struggle to meaningfully appear on the global map.

In a world where concentration attracts more concentration, reshaping the landscape takes time. But the iceberg rule applies: most activity happens below the surface 鈥� and reveals itself only much later. And today, there is far more dynamism beneath the surface than the top-line numbers suggest.

A decade in the world of innovation

But just zoom out, and everything changes.

A decade on planet Startup is a geological era.

The Innovation Ecosystem Life Cycle Curve hasn鈥檛 changed shape, but it has become dramatically more crowded, with far more weight shifted toward the later stages.

In 2015, fewer than 500 startup ecosystems sat on the global curve. The Star stage was an exclusive club of just three tech hubs (Silicon Valley, New York and Beijing), and only 13 ecosystems had reached the Scaleup stage. In short, the startup scene was relatively simple and still heavily concentrated in the U.S. and APAC.

Ten years later, the landscape is radically different. Nearly 900 ecosystems now appear on the curve. The Star stage includes 19 ecosystems (a 6x increase), while the Scaleup stage counts 45 (3.5x growth).

If we look into the crystal ball, it鈥檚 easy to foresee that by 2030 the life cycle curve may host 1,500-plus ecosystems, a massive expansion.

Of these, 40-50 are likely to reach the Star stage, and 90-100 the Scaleup stage. Practically speaking, this means one thing for innovation hunters (VCs and corporates): Navigating this landscape is about to become a serious headache.

The geography of the startup economy has also shifted.

On the right-hand side 鈥� the upper stages 鈥� the dominance pattern remains similar: once led by the U.S. (2) and China (1), the Star stage is now shared by the U.S. and APAC (8 each), with Israel, London and Paris as notable exceptions.

But moving left along the curve, Europe is gaining ground.

At the Scaleup stage, Europe now counts 12 ecosystems (up from just two a decade ago), surpassing APAC.

And in the startup and standup stages, Europe is now the region with the highest number of ecosystems overall.

In a nutshell: Europe seems to have built a broad, diversified base 鈥� but the question remains: Is this latent potential waiting to emerge, or simply the result of structural fragmentation?

A final note: Latin America, the Middle East and Africa are 鈥� with a few exceptions 鈥� almost absent from the Star (Israel) and Scaleup (Dubai, S茫o Paulo and Istanbul) stages. In the Startup stage, they represent only 10 out of 93 ecosystems. In the Standup stage, we finally see larger volumes (73 out of 721).

The question is: When will this immense innovation potential finally surface?

鈥斅燜or more insights, you can download the report: 鈥淭he Calm Before the AI Storm: Global Innovation Ecosystems: Who Leads, Who Lags, and Who Could Rise鈥� .

is chairman of and a professor at . He is a serial entrepreneur who has started three startups in his career, the last of which is , among the five Italian scaleups that have raised the largest amount of capital. He is recognized among the leading international experts in open innovation and has wide experience in setting up and managing open innovation projects 鈥� venture clients, venture builders, intrapreneurship, CVCs 鈥� with large multinational companies, as well as advising and training on this subject. Onetti has a column on () and several other tech blogs.

Related reading:

• Innovation Policies: The Australian Lesson Focusing Startup Investments On A Few Strategic Sectors
• AI Is Gorging On Venture Capital. This Is Why 鈥楶hysical AI鈥� Is Next
• The Dual-Use Tech Surge: Innovation鈥檚 Double-Edged Sword

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