If your 2025 startup recap is “AI happened,” you’re not wrong—you’re just leaving out the part where the rules changed. rules This wasn’t a simple comeback year. Funding returned, but it came back concentrated. Exits loosened, but not the way founders were trained to expect. And early-stage money got bigger, while tolerance for ambiguity got smaller. Here are the three themes that explain most of the year—and will quietly shape 2026. three themes 1) AI didn’t “win.” It swallowed the funding market. By the end of 2025, “the venture market” and “AI funding” were close to synonyms. Crunchbase reports AI captured close to 50% of all global funding in 2025, with $202.3 billion invested—more than 75% higher than 2024. close to 50% of all global funding $202.3 billion 75% Two underappreciated consequences followed: Everything became an AI story, whether it wanted to or not. If you weren’t in AI, you were expected to be adjacent to it: AI for security, AI for finance, AI for logistics, AI for defense, AI for literally-anything-with-a-budget. That didn’t just reshape pitches; it reshaped which companies got meetings.
The market started caring (again) about implementation, not just demos. S&P Global’s research captures the mood: adoption is rising fast, but outcomes remain uneven, with plenty of initiatives struggling to move from pilots into durable, scaled deployments. Everything became an AI story, whether it wanted to or not. If you weren’t in AI, you were expected to be adjacent to it: AI for security, AI for finance, AI for logistics, AI for defense, AI for literally-anything-with-a-budget. That didn’t just reshape pitches; it reshaped which companies got meetings. Everything became an AI story, whether it wanted to or not. The market started caring (again) about implementation, not just demos. S&P Global’s research captures the mood: adoption is rising fast, but outcomes remain uneven, with plenty of initiatives struggling to move from pilots into durable, scaled deployments. The market started caring (again) about implementation, not just demos. The punchline: 2025 rewarded “AI-native” companies, but it also punished anyone who couldn’t answer the grown-up questions—data, workflows, compliance, and the unglamorous reality of enterprise rollout. 2) Liquidity returned—but mostly through the side door. There was an IPO thaw. EY reports 1,293 IPOs raised $171.8 billion globally in 2025, a 39% increase in proceeds versus 2024. That’s meaningful: public markets were willing to buy new inventory again, particularly higher-quality offerings. was 1,293 IPOs $171.8 billion globally 39% But the bigger shift was that startups got increasingly comfortable treating IPOs as optional. The real release valve was private-market liquidity—secondaries. optional Carta estimates $61.1 billion in venture secondary transaction value from July 2024 through June 2025, surpassing the combined value of VC-backed IPOs over the same period ($58.8 billion). $61.1 billion July 2024 through June 2025 surpassing $58.8 billion That’s not a quirky footnote. It changes behavior: Employees can get partial liquidity without waiting for a once-in-a-decade window.
Founders can delay IPO pressure (and quarterly earnings theatre) while still keeping their cap table from turning into a hostage situation.
Investors can produce DPI without pretending “the market will open next quarter” for the eighth time. Employees can get partial liquidity without waiting for a once-in-a-decade window. Founders can delay IPO pressure (and quarterly earnings theatre) while still keeping their cap table from turning into a hostage situation. Investors can produce DPI without pretending “the market will open next quarter” for the eighth time. In 2025, the “exit” increasingly looked like a private transaction and a new cap table row—not a bell, a stage, and a hoodie. 3) Seed got bigger—and the vibe got colder. If you only caught the “funding is up” headlines, you might have missed the more important detail: early-stage dollars got larger while patience got shorter. early-stage dollars got larger while patience got shorter Crunchbase reports investors backed close to 700 seed-stage rounds of $10 million or more in 2025—tracking toward an all-time high. That’s a structural shift, not a seasonal anomaly. Bigger seeds effectively pull Series A expectations forward: faster shipping, earlier revenue signals, and less tolerance for “we’re still exploring.” close to 700 seed-stage rounds of $10 million or more And the operating environment reinforced that discipline. Crunchbase’s layoff tracker counted around 126,352 workers let go from U.S.-based tech companies in mass job cuts in 2025. Even with capital rushing into the hottest categories, companies stayed in efficiency mode. around 126,352 So the 2025 bargain was clear: yes, capital is available—if you can prove traction quickly and run lean while doing it. yes, capital is available—if you can prove traction quickly and run lean while doing it. What this means going into 2026 A lot of people will summarize 2025 as “the year venture came back.” The more accurate version is: the year venture came back with a narrower definition of what it wants. the year venture came back with a narrower definition of what it wants. AI dominated the narrative and the dollars—but deployment reality started to matter again.
Liquidity improved—but secondaries did the heavy lifting.
Seed rounds got bigger—while execution standards tightened in a still-choppy labor market. AI dominated the narrative and the dollars—but deployment reality started to matter again. Liquidity improved—but secondaries did the heavy lifting. Seed rounds got bigger—while execution standards tightened in a still-choppy labor market. If you’re a founder, 2025’s lesson is blunt: the market will fund ambition, but it now prices in proof. If you’re an investor, the message is equally blunt: liquidity is here—just not always where you expected to find it. the market will fund ambition, but it now prices in proof. liquidity is here—just not always where you expected to find it. Future fundraising will belong to founders who understand that capital follows conviction, and conviction travels through story. You don’t have to shout. You just have to show up consistently, with clarity and intent. capital follows conviction, and conviction travels through story show up consistently, with clarity and intent Most startups will take years to get this right. But....if you're looking for results in less than a month, you need HackerNoon's help Most startups will take years to get this right. But....if you're looking for results in less than a month, you need HackerNoon's help years Starting at only $5k, you get to: ✅ Publish three evergreen content pieces on HackerNoon (with canonical tags)✅ Translations into 76 languages for each of the three stories✅ Advertise your product for a week on a targeted category Book a meeting here to know more! Book a meeting here to know more! Book a meeting here to know more! Book a meeting here to know more! Great Startups That You Should Know About Meet Nouryon, Perplexity, and Women In Tech Global! Nouryon Perplexity Women In Tech Global Nouryon Nouryon Nouryon is a producer of essential solutions that their customers use to manufacture everyday products needed for attractive and high-growth end-markets. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Nouryon operates in over 80 countries and was nominated for HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year award for the Amsterdam region. It was also nominated in the Manufacturing, Consumer Goods, and Professional Services categories. Amsterdam region Manufacturing Consumer Goods Professional Services Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity is a free AI-powered answer engine that provides accurate, trusted, and real-time answers to any question. AI-powered answer engine The American privately held software company offers a web search engine that processes user queries and synthesizes responses. Based in San Francisco, California, this impressive startup was nominated in the Software Development and IT Services categories. Software Development IT Services Women In Tech Global Women In Tech Global Women in Tech is an international organization on a mission to close the gender gap and to help women embrace technology. Since 2018, Women in Tech Global has been empowering women and girls across six continents through education, business innovation, and digital inclusion. Based in Paris, this organization was nominated in the IT Services, Messaging & Communications, and Blogging categories. Paris IT Services Messaging & Communications Blogging That’s all for this week. Until next time, hackers!

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Startups, Here’s Everything You (Probably) Missed This Year

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