2025 trends in venture capital
The state of venture capital: A 2025 market snapshot
The venture capital market is showing renewed signs of life in 2025, balancing cautious optimism with strategic discipline. Investors are no longer in funding freeze mode, but they haven’t returned to the blank-check windfall mentality of previous boom cycles. The industry has entered a more sustainable phase of innovation funding, creating both challenges and opportunities for startups and investors alike.
The VC pendulum swings again
In the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report, Heather Gates, Audit & Assurance Private Growth leader, discusses the importance of preparedness and strategic patience in the current venture capital landscape. We’ve summarized a few key takeaways from the article below.
Three things to know now:
- AI valuations continue to defy gravity while most other sectors have experienced necessary corrections, creating a two-tier investment landscape with dramatically different expectations and strategies.
- The combination of previously inflated valuations and unstable IPO markets has extended exit timelines, requiring founders to prepare now with appropriate controls.
The venture landscape has split between “haves and have-nots,” with established funds still raising capital while some emerging managers struggle.
"Probably about one-third of the companies that raised in 2021 and 2022 at the really high valuations haven’t yet faced what the next round will look like, and how far down it might be."
Heather Gates, Audit & Assurance Private Growth Leader
Explore more recent editions
Each quarter, Audit & Assurance Private Growth Leader Heather Gates and Deloitte leadership offer perspectives and insights on current topics in the venture capital industry. Please explore all the great content from our previous editions and uncover new insights.
