2025年四季度新兴技术指标（英）

Emerging TechIndicator Top VC firms bet big on AI and healthcare Contents Key takeaways3 Institutional Research Group Introduction4 Ben Riccio Research Analyst, Industry & Technology Researchben.riccio@pitchbook.com Deal activity5 pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com Areas of investment Published on March 4, 2026 ETI deal segment spotlights AI14 Healthtech & wellness19 Cybersecurity22 Biotechnology Enterprise SaaS Other notable activity Venture activity summary ETI investor ranking37 Key takeaways •Top investors bet big in 2025:ETI funding (pre-seed, seed, and early-stage deals involving the top15 VC firms) reached $33.1 billion across 874 deals in 2025. This marks record capital deployment,even as the overall deal count remains below prior averages. As a result, startups with backingfrom top investors are now seeing significantly elevated deal sizes and valuations compared withthe rest of the venture ecosystem. •Large deal values are becoming the norm:Rounds above $50 million and $100 million represent anincreasing share of ETI activity, reflecting strong investor conviction in the current wave of AI-nativestartups and a broader shift toward fewer, higher-value bets over early-stage diversification. •Frontier AI labs and crypto capture top deals:Reflection AI closed a $2 billion Series B, tyingThinking Machines Lab and Safe Superintelligence for the largest ETI round of the year. Anotheremerging frontier AI lab, humans& closed a $480 million seed round, while Tempo, a blockchainpurpose-built for stablecoin payments, secured $500 million at a $4.5 billion valuation. •AI investment reaches new highs:With a record 53 deals closing in Q4, top investors show nosigns of slowing investment into AI. Mega-rounds for frontier labs underscore high investorconviction in platform-layer solutions despite significant competition from incumbents. Whenincluding vertical applications as well, 51.6% of ETI deals in Q4 went to AI startups, exceeding thatof the broader venture space where AI represented 34.2% of all deals. Other verticals with outsizedactivity include healthtech & wellness, fintech, and biotechnology. Introduction The Emerging Tech Indicator (ETI) provides a quarterly review of pre-seed, seed, and early-stageinvestment activity involving a limited subset of the world’s most successful VC firms, which accountfor roughly 10% of total VC investment. The analysis provides a unique perspective into the types oftechnologies that top investors view as the most promising while also tracking how aggressively theseinvestors are making capital allocation decisions. Companies that went on to exit as a share of all companies that received ETIfunding or pre-seed, seed, and early-stage VC funding In the fourth quarter of 2025 we tracked 225 pre-seed, seed, and early-stage VC deals that involvedthe top 15 VC firms (relative to 5,964 total pre-seed, seed, and early-stage VC deals). These firms aredetermined each quarter based on the success of their investments over time in terms of both exitsand valuations.1 As shown in the charts on the right, ETI startups identified via our top 15 investormethodology have outperformed the broader VC industry, exhibiting higher exit rates and valuations.This report reviews the products and technology being developed by ETI startups. Disclaimer: Data from the ETI report represents a snapshot of venture activity at a certain point in time.Historical datasets are continuously being adjusted to incorporate new information as we collect it,complicating efforts to compare the current ETI dataset with previously published reports. Companies that achieved unicorn status as a share of all companies thatreceived ETI funding or pre-seed, seed, and early-stage VC funding Deal activity In Q4, top investors participated in 225 seed and early-stage (Series A and B) deals, totaling $10.5billion in value. This level of investment matches the quarterly peaks reached in 2021 and 2022, evenas transaction volume remains well below the averages during this period. Annual trends are similar,with 2025 representing record deal value at $33.1 billion, while the total of 874 ETI deals falls below theprior five-year annual average of 956. With top investors prioritizing high-value deals over early-stage diversification, ETI funding isincreasingly concentrated in fewer megadeals. Three companies—Thinking Machines Lab, SafeSuperintelligence and Reflection AI—each raised rounds worth $2 billion in 2025, capturing 18% ofall ETI capital. Beyond these outlier rounds, deal values are still elevated, with transactions over $50million now accounting for 16% of all ETI deals compared with an average of 9% since 2020. This shift has driven median deal sizes and valuations sharply upward, as investors place outsizedbets in attractive verticals such as AI and healthcare. As the dynamics of early-stage venture shift,large investors that can afford these increased valuations and access competitive