Assets managed by American venture-capital firms approached $1.3trn in 2024, more than three times the level in 2015. Almost two-thirds of VC dollars invested in America in the first half of 2025 went to artificial-intelligence firms. In that period, mature startups accounted for 78% of the value of VC deals, up from 59% a year before.
Fully 344 unicorns—unlisted firms worth more than $1bn—were minted in America in 2021 amid the pandemic-era funding bonanza. By 2023 the figure was just 45. Generative AI sent the industry into a new frenzy: unicorns have given way to decacorns (worth over $10bn) and hectocorns ($100bn-plus). As of mid-2025, according to Coatue, an investment-management firm, there are more than $1.3trn-worth of private companies valued at $50bn or higher, more than double the level two years earlier.
VCs are experimenting with changes to their investing model to hold on to startups for longer. Sequoia Capital declared the traditional ten-year fund "obsolete" in 2021 and replaced it with a permanent structure, the Sequoia Capital Fund, which combines investments in unlisted startups with liquid stakes in public companies it has previously backed. Other firms, such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, have turned to continuation funds, which bring in fresh capital.
Secondary tender offers, which allow early backers and employees to sell shares without a public listing, totalled some $60bn in the first quarter of 2025, up from $50bn in the final quarter of 2024.
The largest VC firms, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed and General Catalyst, deploy tens of billions of dollars across numerous funds. A cohort of younger firms, including Thrive Capital (led by Josh Kushner) and Greenoaks (led by Neil Mehta), compete by raising sizeable funds but backing a select few companies. Thrive has invested over $1bn in OpenAI. SoftBank, a Japanese tech investor, is putting $32bn into OpenAI by the end of 2025—more than any initial public offering has ever raised.
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