AI startups in North America raised $34.5 billion in Q2, making it the third-largest quarterly total on record
Despite fewer deals, AI-led bets kept North America’s tech funding surprisingly resilient in the second quarter of 2025.
One thing about North America's venture investment in Q2 2025 is evident when you take out the headline numbers: AI is handling the heavy lifting.
Despite a little decline in overall startup investment from Q1, the area ended the first half of the year with $145 billion raised, a 43% increase over the same period the previous year. A widespread funding boom across all sectors did not drive the jump. Nearly all of its strength came from artificial intelligence.
AI Keeps the Cash Flowing
Investors are betting big and repeatedly on startups promising to lead the next wave of AI infrastructure and applications. In Q2 alone, AI startups raised $34.5 billion, making it the third-largest quarterly total on record. That’s no small feat, considering broader deal activity across stages actually dropped.
What’s happening here is a reshaping of venture priorities. “Smart money” is moving fast, backing companies that don’t just sprinkle in AI buzzwords but build the tech that others will depend on, whether it’s for model training, robotics, or vertical-specific tools.
Scale AI’s $14.3 billion round became the poster child for this shift. It was an indication that Big Tech is stepping up its efforts and isn't simply about funding a company. Meta’s partnership with Scale and its addition of founder Alexandr Wang to its AI council blurred the lines between startup and superpower. Others did the same; CoreWeave, Anysphere, H, and Safe Superintelligence all raised hundreds of millions to further AI.
Late-Stage Deals Are Bigger, But Fewer
That AI-heavy focus also explains why late-stage funding held up, even as overall deal counts dropped. Instead of spreading money thin, VCs concentrated capital into fewer, bigger rounds. Late-stage deals totalled $41.5 billion, one of the highest quarterly hauls in the past three years. It wasn’t a feeding frenzy; it was a strategic arms race, with funds piling into companies that already proved they could scale.
At the seed and early stages, AI dominated the narrative, too. Even though deal volume declined slightly, the dollars told a different story. Q2 saw $5.9 billion in seed funding, the highest in three years. But it wasn’t spread evenly. Thinking Machines Lab, co-founded by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, alone raised $2 billion at seed. That kind of number is unheard of. It shows how AI is bending the rules of what’s “normal” in early-stage investing.
Early-stage rounds remained healthy too, at $14.3 billion, with climate tech grabbing some attention. But outside AI and a few select sectors, it’s clear that most startups are facing a higher bar.
IPOs and Exits Are Moving Again
Elsewhere, the IPO market showed signs of life, with Circle and Chime finally making public debuts. And M&A picked up slightly, giving investors a few more exit options. Still, these moves felt more like side notes than the main act.
Because right now, all roads lead to AI.
North America’s funding strength in Q2 wasn’t about a rising tide lifting all boats; it was about one massive wave of AI pushing everything else forward. And while that keeps capital flowing, it also creates pressure because not every startup can ride this wave. For founders outside the AI space, raising capital remains an uphill battle. For those in it, the clock is ticking to stand out before the next hype cycle kicks in.
