Global Startup and Venture Investment News for Tuesday, January 13, 2026: Continued Venture Boom, Record Rounds in AI, IPO Revival, Wave of M&A, and Global Market Expansion. An Overview for Venture Investors and Funds.
By mid-January 2026, the global venture capital market is displaying robust growth, leaving the previous downturn behind. In the fourth quarter of 2025, over $100 billion was invested in technology startups, approximately 40% more than the previous year, marking the best quarterly result since 2021. The prolonged "venture winter" of 2022-2023 has ended, and private capital is rapidly returning to the tech sector. Major funds are once again actively investing in promising companies, and investors are willing to take risks for high potential returns. The industry is confidently entering a new phase of growth, although caution in project valuations remains.
Venture activity is growing across all regions of the world. The U.S. leads significantly, largely due to enormous investments in artificial intelligence. In the Middle East, startup funding is sharply rising thanks to generous financing from sovereign mega-funds. Europe is witnessing a reshuffling of leaders: Germany has overtaken the UK in venture deals for the first time in a decade, strengthening the positions of continental tech hubs. In Asia, growth is shifting from China to India and Southeast Asia, compensating for the relative cooling of the Chinese market. Africa and Latin America are also making their mark—first "unicorns" have emerged in these regions, underscoring the truly global nature of the current venture boom. The startup ecosystems in Russia and the CIS are also striving to keep pace; new funds, accelerators, and programs aimed at integrating local projects into global trends are being launched with government and corporate support in the region.
Below is a list of key events and trends shaping the current agenda of the venture market as of January 13, 2026:
- Return of mega-funds and major investors. Leading venture players are forming unprecedentedly large funds and ramping up investments, once again filling the market with capital and rekindling risk appetite.
- Record rounds in AI and a new wave of "unicorns." Massive investments in artificial intelligence are driving company valuations to unprecedented heights and creating a surge of unicorn startups.
- Revival of the IPO market. Successful IPOs of tech companies and an increase in filing numbers indicate that the long-awaited "window of opportunity" for exits is once again open.
- Diversification of venture investments. Capital is being directed not only towards AI, but also into fintech, climate technologies, biotech, defense projects, and even crypto-startups, expanding the market horizons.
- Wave of consolidation and M&A deals. Major mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments are reshaping the industry landscape, providing investors with long-awaited exits and accelerating company growth.
- Global expansion of venture capital. The investment boom is reaching new regions—beyond the U.S., Western Europe, and China, considerable funding is being directed towards startups in the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
- Local focus: Russia and the CIS. Despite challenges, new funds and initiatives to develop local startup ecosystems are emerging in the region, maintaining investor interest in local projects.
Return of Mega-Funds and Major Investors: Big Money Back in the Market
The largest investment players are making a triumphant return to the venture arena—a sign of a new surge in risk appetite. The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has announced the establishment of a third Vision Fund of approximately $40 billion, focused on advanced technologies, primarily artificial intelligence and robotics. Sovereign funds from Gulf countries are also becoming active, pouring billions into tech projects and launching large-scale programs to develop the startup sector—resulting in the formation of local tech hubs in the Middle East. Simultaneously, dozens of new venture funds are being established worldwide, attracting significant institutional capital for investments in high-tech sectors.
Well-known Silicon Valley firms are also boosting their presence. In the U.S., venture funds have accumulated unprecedented reserves of uninvested capital ("dry powder")—hundreds of billions of dollars are ready for deployment as market confidence grows. Some notable VC firms that previously slowed their activity are returning with new mega-rounds. For instance, the investment fund Tiger Global, after a pause, has formed a new fund of $2.2 billion and promised a more selective, “modest” approach to investing. American giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has raised over $15 billion across five new funds—an all-time record for the firm, amounting to approximately 18% of all venture investments in the U.S. for 2025. Combined assets of a16z have exceeded $90 billion. The influx of “big money” has significantly invigorated the ecosystem: the market is once again saturated with liquidity, competition for the best deals is intensifying, and the industry is regaining much-needed confidence in future capital influx.
Record Investments in AI and a New Wave of "Unicorns"
The field of artificial intelligence remains the main driver of the current venture boom, setting new records for funding amounts. Investors are eager to stake their claim among the leaders of the AI market, directing colossal sums into the most promising startups. In recent months, numerous AI companies have attracted unprecedentedly large funding rounds. For example, OpenAI secured a record private round of approximately $40 billion (the largest in venture history), the infrastructure developer Anthropic received around $13 billion in investments, and Elon Musk’s xAI project attracted about $10 billion. Such mega-rounds, often accompanied by significant oversubscription from eager investors, confirm the excitement surrounding AI companies.
Venture capital is flowing not only into AI applications, but also into critically important infrastructure for them. Investors are willing to finance even the "shovels and picks" of the new digital age—from manufacturing specialized chips and cloud platforms to optimizing energy consumption in data centers. Analysts estimate that the total investment in AI startups for 2025 surpassed $150 billion. The current investment boom is giving rise to a wave of new "unicorns"—startups valued at over $1 billion. Although experts warn of overheating risks, investor appetite for companies in the field of artificial intelligence remains strong.
The IPO Market is Reviving: The "Window of Opportunity" for Exits is Open
The global market for initial public offerings (IPOs) is experiencing a long-awaited revival after a prolonged pause over the past few years. Successful debuts of several major tech companies on stock exchanges in 2025 demonstrated that the downturn period is behind. For instance, the American fintech "unicorn" Chime held one of the year's most notable IPOs: its shares surged over 30% on the first day of trading, boosting investor confidence in new listings. The Asian region led the wave of listings—multiple large startups have gone public in Hong Kong in recent weeks, collectively raising billions of dollars. Among them, the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL sold shares for approximately $5.2 billion, confirming investors' readiness to actively participate in IPOs in the eastern markets again. Following Asian companies, several well-known 'unicorns' are preparing for public offerings: discussions were held in the second half of 2025 regarding a possible IPO for the payment service Stripe, and major AI leaders (including OpenAI and Anthropic) are expected to debut in 2026, along with large fintech companies.
The resurgence of activity in the IPO market is crucial for the venture ecosystem. Successful stock market debuts once again provide funds with opportunities for profitable exits (liquidation of investments), freeing up capital for new projects. The number of listing applications has noticeably increased, and startups that had long postponed public exits are eager to take advantage of the opening "window." It is anticipated that the market will see new large placements in 2026. The prolonged functioning of the "IPO window" instills optimism in the industry, although investors continue to carefully assess the fundamentals of companies going public.
Diversification of Venture Investments: Fintech, Climate, Biotech, and More
Venture investments are no longer concentrated solely on artificial intelligence—capital is actively flowing across a wide array of sectors, making the market more balanced. Signs of recovery are evident in fintech: financial technologies are once again attracting significant capital due to their adaptation to new regulatory conditions and integration of AI (e.g., in payment services and neo-banks). The interest in climate projects also continues to grow: "green" technologies are receiving increasing support amid a global movement towards decarbonization—investors are financing innovations in renewable energy, emissions reduction, and sustainable infrastructure.
- Fintech: Financial services and platforms are regaining investor attention, partly due to the incorporation of AI in banking and payment systems.
- Climate projects: "Green" technologies are receiving record financing thanks to the global trend towards sustainability (renewable energy, carbon footprint reduction, eco-friendly agrotechnologies).
- Biotech and health: Biotech is back in focus due to breakthroughs in medicine (new vaccines, gene therapies) and the application of AI in pharmaceuticals, attracting fresh funding rounds.
- Defense and aerospace developments: Geopolitical factors are stimulating the growth of investments in military technologies, cybersecurity, space projects, and dual-use robotics—both from the state and private funds.
- Crypto-startups: Despite volatility, the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector is receiving a new wave of investments, especially in infrastructure solutions and stablecoins (for example, the stablecoin platform Rain raised $250 million in a Series C round).
The expansion of sectoral focus makes the venture market more resilient and versatile. The diversity of directions reduces the risks of overheating in any single segment and creates the prerequisites for more qualitative, balanced growth of the startup ecosystem in the long term. Investors are provided with more opportunities to find promising projects across various sectors—from finance and energy to medicine and defense—thereby increasing the overall effectiveness of investments.
Wave of Consolidation and M&A: Big Players Consolidate
Amid the overall recovery of the industry, consolidation has intensified: the number of major mergers and acquisitions of startups sharply increased in 2025, reaching peaks not seen in recent years. Tech giants and financial corporations are once again actively acquiring promising young companies, seeking to strengthen their positions in strategic niches. The scale of these deals is impressive—for example, Google agreed to acquire cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $32 billion—one of the largest purchases in the history of the tech sector. In the crypto-financial industry, a landmark deal occurred when South Korean exchange Upbit (operator of Dunamu) was acquired by internet giant Naver for about $10 billion, marking the largest fintech exit in the region. Additionally, at the end of 2025, Meta announced a strategic purchase of a 49% stake in American AI startup Scale AI for approximately $15 billion, aiming to secure access to key technologies and teams in artificial intelligence.
Consolidation is touching on various segments—from fintech and healthcare to AI. Major players are acquiring startups to accelerate innovations and expand their product lines. For venture investors, the wave of M&A signifies long-awaited exits (profits are realized through company sales, not just through IPOs). For startups themselves, integration into corporations opens access to extensive resources, a global client base, and infrastructure, speeding up their growth. The increase in mergers and acquisitions indicates the maturity of certain market segments: the most successful companies are embedding themselves within larger structures, and investors are gaining an additional means of return alongside public offerings. Although some deals are driven by necessity (startups seeking "rescue" through sales amid challenges for further sustainable growth), the overall trend towards consolidation adds dynamism to the venture market and creates new opportunities for all participants.
Global Expansion: New Centers of Venture Growth
The venture boom of recent months has acquired a truly global scale, spreading far beyond traditional technology centers. Countries outside the U.S. now account for more than half of global venture investments—new growth hotspots are emerging. The Middle East is rapidly transforming into a significant investment hub: funds from Gulf states are investing billions in creating local tech parks and developing startup ecosystems. India and Southeast Asia are breaking records in the volume of venture deals, annually spawning new "unicorns" and attracting global investors. The tech scenes of Africa and Latin America are also actively developing—startups in these regions are already achieving valuations of over $1 billion, making them new players on the global level. Even in Europe, continental efforts are intensifying: national and corporate funds (for example, Bpifrance in France and High-Tech Gründerfonds in Germany) are investing tens of billions of euros in tech startups, striving to cultivate their own technology champions and reduce reliance on foreign capital.
Thus, venture capital has become geographically more distributed than ever. Promising projects can attract funding regardless of their country of origin as long as they demonstrate scalability potential. For investors, this opens new horizons: the search for high-return opportunities is now conducted globally, and risks are diversified across different regions. The global expansion of the venture market fosters the influx of talent and knowledge exchange—technology ecosystems in different countries are becoming increasingly interconnected, enhancing the innovative potential of the planet. Heightened competition for promising startups on a global scale ultimately stimulates project quality and creates more balanced conditions for the growth of new companies.
Russia and the CIS: Local Initiatives Amid Global Trends
Despite external restrictions, local activity in the startup sector is gradually reviving in Russia and neighboring countries. Although the total volume of venture investments in Russia has decreased in recent years, private investors and funds remain cautiously optimistic. In 2025, new funds emerged in the region totaling tens of billions of rubles, aimed at financing early-stage tech projects. Major corporations are also getting involved, launching their own accelerators and venture divisions, while government programs are providing grants and investments for startups. For example, in Moscow, around 1 billion rubles were attracted to local IT projects as part of one initiative—an important signal of market support.
There is a noted shift in focus towards more mature and resilient companies. Venture investors in Russia and the CIS prefer startups with proven revenue and viable business models—those capable of growing even with limited new capital inflow. The softening of several barriers has opened opportunities for investments from friendly countries, partially compensating for the departure of Western capital. Some large technology companies in the region are contemplating public offerings: discussions are underway regarding the IPO of specific IT subsidiaries of major holdings, which could breathe additional life into the local market as conditions improve. A new local venture ecosystem is gradually forming, relying on internal resources and regional players. The emergence of significant deals and new funds instills cautious optimism: even in the context of limited connectivity to global financial flows, the Russian and neighboring markets are laying the groundwork for future innovation growth.
Emphasis on Efficiency and Forecast: Discipline in Focus for 2026
By the end of 2025, the global startup market demonstrated a vigorous recovery. In North America alone, total investments reached a record ~$280 billion (46% more than the previous year), with around 60% of this amount directed towards companies utilizing AI technologies. Similar trends are observed in other regions. The influx of capital is accompanied by an increase in deal sizes: the total number of rounds has decreased by ~15%, but the share of mega-rounds has significantly grown. Late-stage funding has surged the most—investment in late-stage rounds increased by approximately 75%, reaching about $191 billion for the year.
- North America: ~$280 billion invested in 2025—a maximum figure for the last four years, largely due to AI deals.
- AI Share: More than half of venture capital was directed toward companies implementing artificial intelligence in their products.
- Late-stage Boom: Funding for large late-stage rounds grew by ~75%, reaching about $191 billion, reflecting a shift in investor focus towards more mature projects.
- Sustainability Focus: Funds are paying increased attention to capital efficiency and speed of achieving break-even points when selecting projects.
Experts predict that interest in infrastructure technologies and the AI sector will remain high in 2026, and the market will continue to attract large rounds. However, even amid the general optimism, a startup's success in 2026 will depend on sound management and a solid business foundation. Investors demand discipline from companies, prudent spending of raised funds, and clear execution of growth strategies. Thus, the new wave of venture growth combines lessons from previous years: to succeed in the face of abundant opportunities, startups must maintain their focus on quality, efficiency, and sustainable development.
