Artificial intelligence startups captured the lion’s share of global venture capital in the first quarter of 2025, according to newly released data from Pitchbook. Of the $126 billion in total global VC investment, $73 billion—or 57.9%—went to AI and machine learning companies. This marks a dramatic surge from the 28% share seen in the same period last year, underscoring investors' continued urgency to secure a stake in the rapidly evolving AI sector.
“The AI FOMO [fear of missing out] is still very real among investors,” Pitchbook noted in its April 17 report.
OpenAI and Anthropic Lead Massive Q1 Deals
A significant portion of Q1’s AI capital—$40 billion—went to OpenAI in a record-breaking March funding round led by SoftBank, which closed on March 31.
Another standout deal was Anthropic’s $3.5 billion Series E, also closed in March, reinforcing the concentration of funding among top-tier AI players.
In North America, the AI funding trend was even more pronounced, with 70% of VC dollars going toward AI-related startups.
“The fear of someone else capturing your market has never been higher,” said Maria Palma, general partner at Freestyle Capital.
“We haven’t seen a slowdown because the pace of technological change is almost impossible to digest.”
Still, some warn that the exuberance may be creating blind spots.
“There are going to be a lot of losers,” cautioned Nnamdi Okike, co-founder of 645 Ventures.
“Many VC firms are acting like this can only go up — and that’s usually a recipe for failure.”
Crypto VC Heats Up Again Amid Regulatory Clarity
Meanwhile, crypto venture funding is showing signs of revival. According to CryptoRank, blockchain and crypto startups raised $4.8 billion in Q1—quadrupling the $1.1 billion from Q4 2024 and marking the sector’s strongest quarter since Q3 2022.
Nearly half of the Q1 crypto total—$2 billion—came from Abu Dhabi’s MGX investing in Binance, signaling renewed institutional interest.
Contributing to the sector’s momentum is a more favorable regulatory outlook in the U.S. Reports on April 17 noted that Galaxy Ventures Fund I, launched by Mike Novogratz, is expected to surpass its $150 million target, potentially closing at $180 million by June.
