Global investment is recovering, but capital is concentrating, and only the best-prepared founders will benefit.
Global funding is evolving: Collective global funding rounds increased to 54,408 in 2025, up 17.7% from a 2022 peak (66,126). While capital is limited compared to 2023, the data points to a modest rebound and an uneven recovery concentrated in select sectors.
North America dominates the investment market: North America remains the leading continent for funding, with the United States maintaining its global lead. Canada and China emerged as growing challengers.
The UK is facing a pipeline problem: The UK is a mature market facing stagnant growth, with a 13.7% drop in funding rounds compared to 2024. Within the UK, London remains dominant, but regional hubs in the north are becoming key investment locations.
Shift in funding structure: Seed funding rounds accounted for the largest share of deals in 2025. There were large increases in Post-IPO Equity (+46.7%) and Post-IPO Debt (+44%). Moreover, global secondary rounds increased by 24% in 2025, with India seeing a 77% rise.
Business insights: Founders can benefit from streamlined equity infrastructures, like InVestd Raise, to simplify capital raising and ensure investor-readiness, while incentives like an EMI scheme are vital for talent retention.
Businesses are increasingly reassessing how they fund growth. Economic uncertainty, changing legislation and evolving market demands mean organisations of all sizes must take a more strategic approach to financing their next stage of development.
Whether you’re building from the ground up, scaling into new markets, or leading an established enterprise-size business, access to the right capital can be the difference between steady progress and stalled ambition.
In fact, almost half of new businesses in the UK fail within their first three years, and in the U.S., more than 65% don’t make it past the 10-year mark.
In this environment, securing effective business funding has become increasingly complex. To help get their foot on the ground to prevent early failure, many businesses turn to options such as seed funding or general funding rounds.
The findings from our 2024 Global Investment Report highlighted a sharp downturn in global funding activity for 2024 when compared to the year prior, reflecting a broader contraction in funding.
Building on insights from the previous report and analysing the full 2025 investment year, this latest research explores the reality of today’s funding landscape - where capital is flowing, where it’s slowing, and what it means for founders preparing to raise.
While these new findings for 2025 show that globally, funding is yet to return to its 2023 peak, the data points to a modest rebound. That said, recovery remains uneven and concentrated in select countries and sectors.
To explore shifts in global investment, Vestd’s research team analysed Crunchbase data to assess year-on-year changes.
The report shows global trends. The findings are based on investment data from 25 countries, six continents, and two regions to see how the UK stacks up against its global competitors, including the U.S., China, India, and the European Union.
While global funding rounds have yet to return to the record volumes of 2022 and 2023, this data suggests that capital isn’t drying up. While global investment funding rounds have slowed, capital is simply evolving - shifting to more disciplined, long-term profitability.
2025 has been defined as a year of recovery from the lows of 2024. Despite broader macroeconomic headwinds, every continent recorded a year-on-year increase in funding activity. Leading the charge was North America, with 26,744 total funding rounds for the year.
Collectively, global funding rounds reached 54,408 in 2025, representing a healthy bounce back from 2024, though still approximately 17.7% below the 2022 peak of 66,126 rounds. This trajectory signals that the market is no longer in freefall but is moving into a period of gradual recovery.
Total funding rounds by continent, ranked by 2025:
| Funding Ranking by 2025 total | Continent | 2025 (total) | 2024 (total) | 2023 (total) | 2022 (total) | 2019 (total) |
| 1 | North America | 26,744 | 24,571 | 32,167 | 30,975 | 24,504 |
| 2 | Asia | 11,492 | 10,482 | 11,046 | 14,168 | 12,724 |
| 3 | Europe | 11,325 | 10,527 | 13,313 | 15,223 | 12,666 |
| 4 | Africa | 1,083 | 1,081 | 1,211 | 1,830 | 1,126 |
| 5 | Oceania | 998 | 924 | 1,075 | 1,271 | 1,052 |
| 6 | South America | 971 | 767 | 1,076 | 1,732 | 1,105 |
| Global | 54,408 | 50,415 | 61,144 | 66,126 | 53,673 |
Across the continents, there has been a sharp difference between total funding activity for countries in North America and that of Europe and Asia.
The world’s ‘Big Five’ investment hubs are currently split between three G7 leaders - the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom - and the emerging markets of China and India.
Total funding activity, by country (ranked by 2025 top 5)
| Funding Ranking by 2025 total | Country | 2025 (total) | 2024 (total) | 2023 (total) | 2022 (total) | 2019 (total) |
| 1 | United States | 21,926 | 21,231 | 27,375 | 27,106 | 21,260 |
| 2 | Canada | 4,420 | 3,019 | 4,327 | 3,286 | 2,860 |
| 3 | China | 4,048 | 3,069 | 3,736 | 3,173 | 3,539 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 3,331 | 3,303 | 4,079 | 4,498 | 3,653 |
| 5 | India | 998 | 2,724 | 2,564 | 3,701 | 2,722 |
Global leader: The United States continues to lead in global investment volume, with 21,926 funding rounds representing nearly 40% of all global deals.
Market maturity: While its 3.3% YoY growth trails the global average of 7.9% and North America’s wider 8.8%, this reflects market maturity rather than weakness.
Canada’s breakout year: Canada is a growing investment hub, with a 46.4% YoY increase and a 54% rise since 2019.
China’s rebound: With a 31.9% YoY increase, China has reclaimed its position as the largest investment market in Asia.
Strategic consolidation: While India remains a global top-five hub, it is the only market in the ‘Big Five’ to record a year-on-year contraction, with an 8.3% decline in deal volume.
Liquidity focus: The dip in volume is largely driven by a cooling seed-stage market as investors pivot towards more sustainable, late-stage business models.
The latest figures from the UK Government place the UK second globally for both the number of quantum start-ups and the volume of private investment, placing just behind the US.
However, as a mature market, the UK is currently facing a pipeline problem with stagnant growth since 2024, and a 13.7% drop in funding rounds compared to the year before.
Despite a broader struggle for overall investment, there have been significant regional shifts with certain cities emerging as unexpected local investment hotspots.
The new data points to London remaining as the dominant investment hub in the UK, reinforcing its position as the primary destination for investor capital and high-growth businesses.
But investment isn’t just pointing in London’s direction. Cambridge is the second-highest location for investment after London, with Edinburgh just missing out at third place, putting Scotland on the map as one of the best places for investors in the UK.
Similarly, Sheffield (+8%) and Leeds (+3%) are growing, while York (+29%) has had a surge in funding activity YoY. Together, these figures signal a clear shift in Northern momentum for business investment.
This shift aligns with the Northern Growth Strategy, which is aimed at unlocking national economic growth by prioritising the North, which has been declared as one of the Government’s key economic objectives.
The top 5 emerging investment hubs in the UK
| Funding Ranking by 2025 total | Region | 2025 (total) | 2024 (total) | 2023 (total) |
| 1 | London | 1,786 | 2,103 | 2,220 |
| 2 | Cambridge | 102 | 125 | 130 |
| 3 | Edinburgh | 88 | 93 | 96 |
| 4 | Manchester | 70 | 120 | 95 |
| 5 | Glasgow | 69 | 58 | 61 |
Seed funding rounds accounted for the largest share in 2025, with 10,141 deals, reinforcing investors’ preference for early optionality in a more risk-conscious market.
At the same time, Non-Equity assistance saw a sharp drop of 47.6% YoY, suggesting a strong pullback in resources available for companies that do not yet qualify for, or choose not to pursue, traditional equity funding.
In contrast, later-stage capital accelerated:
Post-IPO Equity rose by 46.7% and Post-IPO Debt by 44%, signalling renewed reliance on public markets for liquidity as private late-stage funding remains more selective.
As new investment slows, investors are increasingly looking for alternative routes to liquidity.
The rise of secondary market private equity reflects a broader shift in capital strategy, with investors prioritising flexibility and liquidity amid ongoing market uncertainty.
Secondary market in 2025 for key territories (ranked by % change)
| Secondary market | 2025 | YoY % change |
| Global | 378 | 24% |
| India | 101 | 77% |
| European Union | 49 | 20% |
| United States | 99 | 17% |
| United Kingdom | 25 | 9% |
Despite not reaching its previous height in 2023, global secondary rounds increased by 24% in 2025 compared to the year before.
While India’s primary funding rounds dipped YoY (-8.3%), its secondary market activity surged with a 77% rise, making it one of the fastest-growing secondary markets.
Growth was also seen in the U.S., which saw a 17% increase in secondary rounds. The UK and EU followed suit, but at a slower rate than the global average of 24%, growing by 9% and 20% respectively.
The data shows an industry-wide cooling of investment in 2025, making it more challenging for businesses across the board to secure funding.
Software attracted the highest volume of funding in 2025 (18,282), followed closely by science and engineering (16,842), data and analytics (11,055), and health care (9,781).
Despite becoming increasingly embedded across sectors, Artificial Intelligence recorded only a modest 1.7% uplift in 2025 to 9,519 rounds, following one of the strongest growth periods between 2023 and 2024.
While there has been a drop across all industries in investment from 2024 to 2025, certain sectors have prevailed over the last year after having a greater increase in funding.
Natural resources made the largest jump at 27.3%, rising from 3,049 to 3,881 in the number of funding rounds. Platforms have also had a shift at a 17.2% increase - despite the industry not having the highest number of funding rounds, it’s one of the few to have a positive uplift compared to the year prior.
Industry funding, global (ranked by 2025 total)
| Funding Ranking by 2025 total | Industry | 2025 (total) | 2024 (total) | YoY % |
| 1 | Software | 18,282 | 20,480 | -10.7% |
| 2 | Science & engineering | 16,842 | 16,951 | -0.6% |
| 3 | Data & analytics | 11,055 | 11,108 | -0.5% |
| 4 | Health care | 9,781 | 10,942 | -10.6% |
| 5 | Artificial intelligence | 9,519 | 9,357 | -10.3% |
Industry funding, global (ranked by YoY biggest drop (%))
| Funding Ranking by YoY (%) | Industry | 2025 (total) | 2024 (total) | YoY % |
| 1 | Gaming | 688 | 966 | -28.8% |
| 2 | Education | 2,496 | 3,490 | -28.5% |
| 3 | Agriculture & farming | 1,346 | 1,822 | -26.1% |
| 4 | Music & audio | 355 | 479 | -25.9% |
| 5 | Messaging & telecomms | 184 | 245 | -24.9% |
Those which struggled to secure investment included gaming, which recorded the largest year-on-year decrease in funding (-28.8%). Despite record-breaking revenues in 2024, the industry seems to still be finding it difficult to attract consistent investment.
Education followed with a 28.5% decline in funding rounds, showing that funding in the sector is becoming increasingly selective and harder to secure.
Within this environment of changing investment patterns, a key indicator of growth is the pipeline of emerging unicorns.
An emerging unicorn is a high-growth startup valued between $500 million and $1 billion in private funding rounds, placing it on the cusp of full unicorn status.
The top 5 countries with emerging unicorns (2026)
| Top countries | Country | No. of emerging unicorns (2026) | YoY % from 2025 |
| 1 | United States | 239 | 6.7% |
| 2 | China | 44 | 2.3% |
| 3 | India | 43 | -6.5% |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 27 | -10.0% |
| 5 | South Korea | 14 | 0.0% |
Source: Crunchbase, Emerging Unicorns List (February 2026).
Geographically, the US continues to dominate with 239 companies approaching unicorn status in early 2026, though its year-on-year growth was modest at 6.7%.
China and India follow, with 44 and 43 emerging unicorns, respectively. The UK recorded 27 emerging unicorns but experienced a 10.0% YoY decline, suggesting a thinning pipeline of companies approaching unicorn status.
Unlike the previous focus on convenience apps and delivery platforms, 2026 shows a shift towards more technical innovation year-on-year:
In contrast:
Commenting on the findings, Ifty Nasir, CEO of Vestd, said:
“What stands out in this comprehensive study is that investment is becoming more concentrated. Some areas are accelerating, while others are facing a noticeable pullback.
“At the same time, there are clear bright spots in the data. Canada’s rise in funding activity shows growing confidence, India’s emerging unicorn pipeline remains strong, and in the UK, we’re seeing encouraging signs of investment momentum building outside of London.
“As funding conditions remain selective and founders face increasing pressure to build sustainable businesses, the need for streamlined fundraising and equity infrastructure has never been greater.
“That’s why we’ve continued to evolve InVestd Raise into a broader platform, helping founders manage the practical side of raising capital.
"From SEIS and EIS applications and share issuance to investment documentation and investor management, everything they need to raise and manage investment is handled in one place.
“We’ve also expanded our capabilities to highlight EMI scheme support and tools such as employee share schemes to support startups that increasingly will need to rely on structured incentive programmes to attract and retain talent in a competitive market.
"Capital is still out there - it’s just more selective. The founders who plan ahead and build properly structured businesses will be the ones who stand out."
To assess the scale of global investment in 2025 and how it has evolved throughout the year, as well as in comparison to previous years, Vestd analysed Crunchbase data to reveal private equity trends across a range of regions and industries.
Vestd examined the total number of funding rounds across countries and analysed how the UK compared to its key competitors, including the U.S., India, and the European Union (EU), when it comes to investment in businesses. In total, 25 countries, six continents, two regions, and 41 UK cities were analysed.
Full findings are available upon request. All data is correct as of February 2026.