2025年三季度AI VC趋势（英）2025

EMERGING TECH RESEARCH AI VC Trends VC activity across the AI ecosystem REPORT PREVIEWThe full report is available through the PitchBook Platform. Contents AI landscape3 Institutional Research Group Quarterly analysis4 Analysis Dimitri ZabelinSenior Research Analyst,AI and Cybersecuritydimitri.zabelin@pitchbook.com Key takeaways4 VC activity4 Conclusions7 Data AI VC deal summary21 pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com Publishing Report designed byJosie DoanandDrew Sanders Published on November 24, 2025 Quarterly analysis Key takeaways •Horizontal platforms set the tone for Q3 as fundraising increased from $10.3 billion in Q2 tomore than $33.5 billion in Q3, while vertical applications led deal count with 663 deals. •AI semiconductor deal value exceeded its historical quarterly average of $1.9 billion, whileautonomous machines fell below its $2.9 billion average. Venture-growth valuations alsocontinued to rise, with the median increasing 95.7% from 2024 to Q3 2025. •Quarterly figures were shaped by outsized one-time events, most notably OpenAI raising $40billion at a $300 billion valuation and Anthropic raising $13 billion at a $183 billion valuation,which amplified overall capital concentration. VC activity VC deal counts AI VC deal value in Q3 reached $54.8 billion across 1,086 deals, up from $49.3 billion in Q2 butbelow the record $72.4 billion in Q1. Since Q4 2024, venture-growth rounds have accountedfor the majority of deal value, although late-stage VC deals narrowly led in Q3. Deal counts,however, remained concentrated at the early stage. The concentration of capital at the upper endreflects the high cost of developing horizontal platforms designed to power the next wave of AIapplications across sectors and industries. AI semiconductor and autonomous machine deal value reached $3.9 billion and $2.5 billion inQ3, respectively. Semiconductor deal value has exceeded its historical quarterly average of $1.9billion since 2017, reflecting growing demand for startups advancing AI hardware innovation.Autonomous machines, by contrast, fell short of its historical quarterly average of $2.9 billion,highlighting ongoing challenges in scaling commercialization and deployment. Valuations and deal sizes Between 2024 and Q3 2025, venture growth recorded the largest median VC pre-money valuationincrease at 95.7%, outpacing gains across pre-seed/seed, early-stage, and late-stage segmentsover the same period. The 2025 jump ranks as the third-largest annual increase in venture-growthvaluations across the 2014-2025 period, behind the 121.9% surge in 2020 to 2021 and the 116%rise in 2018 to 2019. The sharp rise in 2025 underscores sustained investor appetite for matureAI companies with scalable infrastructure or commercialization potential. While early-stagevaluations also increased, the outsized gains at the later stages indicate that capital continues toconcentrate around perceived market leaders. Horizontal platforms more than tripled its fundraising from $10.3 billion in Q2 to more than $33.5billion in Q3. Capital deployment in the segment has been heavily concentrated over the past year,surging to record levels in Q1 2025. Since 2017, quarterly deal counts have fallen to a record lowof 292, yet total fundraising reached the third-highest level on record. OpenAI’s $40 billion raisein March 2025 at a $300 billion valuation illustrates how a small number of large deals dominatecapital flows. Median VC pre-money valuation step-ups rose modestly across all stages in Q3 2025, with theoverall multiple increasing from 1.6x in 2024 to 1.8x. All median step-up multiples across pre-seed/seed, early stage, late stage, and venture growth exceeded their 12-year average of 2.4%, 2%, 1.2%,and 2.8%, respectively. Between 2024 and Q3 2025, venture growth recorded the highest increasein median step-up multiples, rising 25% from 1.2x to 1.5x. Vertical applications showed the inverse trend of horizontal platforms, recording $14.9 billion indeal value but leading all segments in transaction count with 663 deals. This broader pattern,in which horizontal platforms generate higher deal value while vertical applications lead in dealcount, has persisted since Q4 2024, except in Q2 2025, when vertical applications outperformedhorizontal platforms in both metrics. Notable deals On a trailing 12-month (TTM) basis, this dynamic is even more pronounced. Horizontal platformsgenerated $128.5 billion in deal value across 1,472 deals, while vertical applications recordedmore than twice as many transactions at 3,443 but only $74.5 billion in total value. Thistrend is expected to continue as the rise ofsovereign AIchannels new waves of state-backedcapital into horizontal platforms that serve as the foundation for building vertical applicationsacross industries. The three largest deals in Q3 illustrate the continued concentration of capital in horizontalplatforms. The biggest deal was Anthropic’s Series F round, led by F