The New York-based startup says its new valuation is $2 billion, double it achieved when raising its $125 million Series D round in December 2023.

In total, Vestwell says it has raised $660 million in capital since its 2016 inception.

Also participating in the latest round were , , , , and .

Vestwell is growing “profitably,” according to CEO , who said the company’s annual recurring revenue is now more than $200 million. The platform has more than 2 million active savers and works with more than 500,000 businesses. In total, Vestwell has over $50 billion in assets administered across workplace, institutional and government channels.

The company grew nearly 50% year over year, Schumm said, and is operating with “strong unit economics and improving margins.”

Vestwell’s revenue model is dependent on its customers and their preferred structure, according to Schumm. Typically, it’s a monthly fee per employer and/or a monthly fee per employee.

The company works with financial institutions, payroll and HR platforms to distribute or integrate its white-labeled savings products to employers and employees nationwide. Those partners include , , , , , , , , , �����Ի� .

Overall funding to wealth management startups totaled $1.9 billion in 2025, per Crunchbase , roughly the same amount as in 2024. That’s down from about $3.8 billion raised by such startups in the peak funding year of 2021.

Connecting the dots

Schumm founded Vestwell with the goal of addressing the problem of “fragmented” savings.

“[There were] separate systems for retirement, emergency, education, disability and other savings programs. Each had its own rules, vendors and barriers to participation,” he said. “Vestwell solves that problem by connecting these programs into one interoperable platform.”

Describing the company as an enterprise fintech platform, he said Vestwell makes it easier for employees and employers “to save, manage and grow their money, no matter the size of the company.”

It supports a range of savings vehicles, including retirement: 401(k), 403(b) and IRA savings programs; education such as 529 savings plans; emergency savings accounts; and ABLE accounts for people with disabilities. Its offering is accessible across more than 20 languages.

Presently, Vestwell has 500 employees.

Expansion plans

The company plans to use its new capital to expand its distribution. For example, it is working to embed savings more deeply into payroll, benefits platforms, financial institutions and government-led public programs.

It’s also continuing to invest in AI-native capabilities with the goal of having them personalize guidance, automate administration and surface “actionable” insights for users and their employers.

Before Vestwell, Schumm co-founded wealth management startup , which was by in 2017 .

, principal at Blue Owl, describes Vestwell as “a standout company.”

“Vestwell is taking a holistic approach to savings, making it far more durable than just a recordkeeping platform,” he wrote via email. “It has created the infrastructure layer that connects payroll providers, financial advisors, enterprises and state programs into a unified savings ecosystem.”

Related Crunchbase Pro query:

Related reading:

• Wealth Management Startups See Funding Rise
• Wealth Management Platform Wealthfront Targets $2.05B Valuation In Latest Fintech IPO

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Clarification: This story has changed since its original publication to confirm the company’s current valuation.

The news was big in the fintech world with Brex claiming the pairing would represent “the largest bank-fintech deal in history.” ( had planned to buy in 2020 for $5.3 billion until that deal fell apart a year later due to regulatory concerns.)

In a joint statement, Capital One founder, chairman and CEO said it’s always been a goal of the bank “to build a payments company at the frontier of the technology revolution.”

“Acquiring Brex accelerates this journey, especially in the business payments marketplace,” he said. “Brex invented the integrated combination of corporate credit cards, spend management software and banking together in a single platform. They have taken the rarest of journeys for a fintech, building a vertically integrated platform from the bottom of the tech stack to the top.”

While $5 billion is no small sum, it is less than half the that San Francisco-based Brex was valued at in October 2021. In total, the company has raised $1.7 billion in equity and debt since its 2017 inception — with about $1.2 billion of that being venture funding.

Early investors such as , which led Brex’s in 2017, are likely quite pleased with the outcome. Investors who wrote checks at its later stages are likely less so.

Other early backers include , and 1��.

The company has 1,100 employees, according to a Brex spokesperson who also told Crunchbase News that its business is growing 40% year over year and is profitable. Customers include , , , , and , among others.

Close friends Franceschi and , who co-founded Brex, started working together when they founded another company, Brazilian payment processing startup , in 2012 at the wee age of 16. That company ended up getting acquired by Stone Pagamentos for “tens of millions of dollars” — before the two had even gone to college.

A change of plans

Brex began its life as a buzzy startup that served mostly other startups. But in June 2022 — three months after announcing it would make a into software and enterprise — Brex confirmed that it was apparently it started to serve: small to medium-sized businesses.

The abrupt news didn’t sit well with many of the SMBs it served.

Over time, Brex began to seemingly fall behind its largest rival, , when it came to fundraising and revenue generation. Ramp as of last November was valued at $32 billion, having raised a total of $2.3 billion in equity.

By joining Capital One, Brex says it will accelerate Capital One’s presence in corporate cards and spend management, complementing its existing leadership in SMB banking.

Capital One’s purchase of Brex is slated to close midyear.

Fintech M&A expected to pick up

On the heels of a strong year for venture funding to fintech startups, sources who spoke with Crunchbase News said they expect exits — both M&A deals and IPOs — in the sector to gain steam in 2026.

Related Crunchbase query:

Related reading:

• Visa And Plaid Pull Plug On $5.3B Merger Amid Increased Antitrust Scrutiny
• Fintech Ramp Now Valued At $32B After $300M Raise Led By Lightspeed
• Fintech Funding Jumped 27% In 2025 With Fewer Deals But Bigger Checks
• Fintech Forecast: Momentum Builds With Big Deals, IPO-Ready Companies And More AI

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After a prolonged slowdown, the IPO market is showing clearer signs of life. As our 2026 IPO outlook forecast details, improving public-market conditions, stabilizing interest rates and renewed investor appetite for growth are setting the stage for a wider reopening of the listing window.

Against that backdrop, a growing cohort of late-stage private companies now looks increasingly prepared to make the leap. Using ����ܲԳ����������’s — which evaluate factors including funding history, growth signals, investor mix and market timing — we’ve curated a list of 15 companies across AI, enterprise software, fintech, space, defense, healthcare and consumer tech that could realistically go public in 2026, should market momentum continue to build.

AI and enterprise tech

: When the window is open, you make your move. That’s something IPO market timers take to heart. But while well-funded private companies are aware of this cyclicality, actually prepping and orchestrating a public debut takes the kind of prep that doesn’t always align with the perfect window. That said, AI infrastructure unicorn Crusoe Energy Systems is certainly scaling in a direction that points to a public exit, a likelihood that Crunchbase predictions affirm with a “probable” rating on a listing for the Denver-based company. Crusoe closed on a in October at a valuation of more than $10 billion. With generative AI platforms currently expanding and investing at an unprecedented rate, the timing is certainly right for the kind of growth metrics IPO investors appreciate.

— Joanna Glasner

: Databricks has been on our list since the end of 2021, when it missed the IPO window. ����ܲԳ����������’s predictive tools label it a “very likely” IPO candidate and that makes sense. The 12-year-old, San Francisco-based company is well placed to go public. As of Q3, it announced it is growing more than 55% year over year, with an over $4.8 billion revenue run rate as of its . Of that revenue, $1 billion was from its AI products. Net retention was above 140% and the company has been free cash flow positive for more than 12 months. Its valuation in recent months has soared. It was valued at $100 billion in September and in December at $134 billion in a round led by and public market investors and .

: Competition among model developers is heating up. AI lab has engaged to begin to explore an IPO, according to the . While 2026 might be too early for Anthropic to go public, another, less-known model developer could make a public-market debut this year. Cohere, co-headquartered in Toronto and San Francisco, focuses on supporting sovereign and secure AI for enterprise and governments. Its customers hail from across North America, APAC and EMEA, and include , and . , its founder and CEO, spoke at a event in London expressing an interest in a public listing in the near future for the 6-year-old company, which was recently valued at $7 billion with . Crunchbase predicts it is a “probable” IPO candidate.

: Design platform Canva is another strong contender to go public in 2026. The 13-year-old Sydney, Australia-based company was valued at $42 billion in its most recent funding — a share sale for employees led by public market investor . As of its August 2025 funding, Canva’s . The company, which Crunchbase bills a “probable” IPO candidate, claimed 240 million monthly users designing with its tools at that time. And adding further validation of Canva’s public-market readiness, competitor went public in July 2024 at a valuation of $16.1 billion. (Although, Figma’s stock is slightly up as of mid-December but remains well below its first-day massive .) As of Q3, Figma, by comparison, has reached .

— Gené Teare

: Before the AI boom, quantum computing was the hot, capital-intensive tech that got VCs and technologists excited. While AI has eclipsed investor interest in quantum, the latter continues to draw big checks from investors, who see enormous potential for the technology to facilitate breakthroughs in areas ranging from drug discovery to cybersecurity and defense. At least one quantum startup is actively mulling an IPO. That’s Quantinuum, which Crunchbase labels a “probable” IPO candidate. That prediction squares with other reporting, including a March 2025 that cited a source with direct knowledge of the matter saying parent company is aiming for a 2026 or 2027 listing. The Broomfield, Colorado-based startup, formed in 2021 via the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, has raised $925 million from venture investors to date, including a $600 million -backed Series B in August at a $10 billion pre-money valuation.

— Marlize van Romburgh��

Space and defense tech

: Space tech has been a strong area for venture investment of late, and with the prospect of a IPO in 2026, it’s an increasingly buzzy sector for public markets as well. Among recently funded startups in the sector, Torrance, California-based K2 Space is a standout on several fronts. For one, it’s a fundraising machine, securing more than $400 million across three rounds since 2024. That culminated in a $250 Series C led by last month at a $3 billion valuation. The company, founded in 2022, develops large, high-power satellite platforms and has secured $500 million in signed contracts across commercial and U.S. government customers. Crunchbase predicts it’s “probable” that the startup will IPO.

— Joanna Glasner

: This one is kind of a gimme. Late last year, -led SpaceX was reported to be eyeing an IPO that would be the largest VC-backed listing of all time —��by about 10x — at a target valuation of $1.5 trillion. The company is already one of the most valuable private businesses in the world. Its reported IPO ambitions make a lot of sense, given the capital-intensive nature of space exploration, aforementioned investor appetite for space tech, and its revenue: an $15 billion in 2025, much of it from its fast-growing StarLink satellite internet business. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has raised nearly $12 billion in its lifetime, according to Crunchbase, which pegs a “very likely” IPO probability on the Hawthorne, California-based company. Investors include , , , and , among others.

: Venture investment into defense tech hit an all-time high last year, and no company received more money than Anduril. Of the more than $7.7 billion that flowed to defense-related startups in 2025, roughly a third went to Anduril in its $2.5 billion Series G at a $30.5 billion valuation. The startup, founded in 2017 by founder , is well-connected in the administration and has been the beneficiary of the U.S. military’s efforts to modernize its defense and war technologies, including a contract with the to supply VR/AR headsets to the . The company has raised $6.3 billion to date from investors including , the , and . The Costa Mesa, California-based company is deemed a “very likely” IPO candidate.

— Marlize van Romburgh��

Health and consumer tech

: Innovaccer, provider of AI-enabled data and intelligence platform for healthcare providers, hits a lot of the checklist items we see in pre-IPO startups. It’s been around for a while (founded in 2014), raised considerable capital, secured a big early this year, and has high-profile strategic backers including . With 1,200 employees across five global offices, San Francisco-based Innovaccer is also a fairly large operation at this point, and certainly looks scaled enough for a public market debut, all factors that contribute to its “probable” IPO prediction from Crunchbase.

— Joanna Glasner

: Hardware-maker Nothing is taking a more unconventional path to a potential IPO. The London-based startup is working to be “IPO-ready” in three years, CEO and co-founder last month. In the meantime the company is giving fans of its smartphones and other gadgets a chance to invest at a via platforms like and . “The timing will depend on market conditions and what makes sense for the business at that point in time,” Pei told the publication. Crunchbase puts a “probable” prediction on an IPO for Nothing, which has reportedly posted fast growth, particularly in markets like India, the U.K. and Japan. The company has said it hit more than $1 billion in lifetime sales last year and has sold more than 7 million devices. Along with its crowdfunding campaigns, Nothing has raised more than $446 million from venture investors including and , .

— Marlize van Romburgh��

Cybersecurity

: Cybersecurity has long been one of the most robust and predictable areas for venture investment. One of the faster-growing startups in the sphere is Huntress, which offers cybersecurity products for small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the resources for a fully staffed 24/7 security team. Crunchbase pins a “probable” IPO prediction on the company, and CEO has also indicated a Huntress listing is a strong possibility in coming years. on the floor of the in late October, he said that the Columbia, Maryland-based company has posted 60% year-over-year growth and is on track to hit $185 million to $190 million in revenue this year. Demand for its offerings has only increased as generative AI has aided scammers and hackers to craft more sophisticated phishing and other cyber attacks, he said. The company has raised nearly $310 million from investors to date, , including a June 2024 Series D led by , and .

: Crunchbase says it’s “probable” that crypto wallet startup Ledger will IPO. That’s down from a “very likely” prediction last year, but other signs continue to point to the likelihood of an offering for the Paris-based startup, which provides a hardware wallet to secure crypto private keys. That means Ledger, founded in 2014, is well-positioned at the intersection of two currently hot industries: cybersecurity and blockchain. It has raised some $577 million from venture investors including and , per . CEO in mid-2025 that Ledger is actively thinking about a U.S. stock market debut, likely within the next three years. He reiterated that an IPO is actively under consideration in an interview with last year, adding that the company’s revenue had hit triple-digit millions in 2025 amid soaring demand for secure crypto storage devices spurred by rising hacks. Ledger secures about $100 billion worth of bitcoin for its customers, he said. Gauthier has previously said an estimated 20% of the world’s crypto assets are protected by his company’s wallets.

— Marlize van Romburgh��

Fintech

: With a “very likely” IPO prediction from Crunchbase, 2026 could be the year that Plaid, a fintech company that connects bank accounts to financial applications, finally decides to go public. In April, the company sold about $575 million worth of common stock at a $6.1 billion post-money valuation. At the time, Plaid told that it would not go public in 2025, but confirmed that an IPO was a milestone the company continued “to track towards.” The startup has not revealed specifics around revenue, noting only that 2025 was a record-setting year in which revenue grew over 25%. Plaid has raised about $1.3 billion from investors such as , , , and .

: Revolut, a digital bank based in London, is a “very likely” candidate for an initial public offering, per Crunchbase predictions. In November, it completed a secondary share sale, boosting its valuation to $75 billion. That was a 67% jump compared to the $45 billion that Revolut was valued at in August 2024 when it announced to provide liquidity to employees. Investors include , , , , ’s venture capital arm , and . Revolut has seen impressive growth since its 2015 inception. In 2025, it achieved $1 billion in annualized revenue and surpassed a 65 million customer base across 100 countries. The company likely won’t IPO until it secures its full U.K. banking license, for which it is still .

: Monzo, another U.K.-based banking platform, is also said to be eyeing an IPO in 2026 and Crunchbase pegs a “very likely” prediction for an offering too. Timing of the IPO is so sensitive for the company now that its CEO was pushed out of the head role due to his reported attempts at a listing earlier than some directors apparently wanted. He also reportedly indicated he might leave soon after. In June, Monzo revenue of more than $1.35 billion and “a sharp rise” in annual profit. It also increased its customer base by 25% to 12.2 million in its last fiscal year. The company was valued at $5.9 billion in October 2024 after selling shares to a group of existing investors. Backers include , , , and .

— Mary Ann Azevedo

An IPO prediction is never a promise. But as market conditions shift and investor appetite broadens, these companies are flashing more of the signals that tend to precede a public offering.

Methodology

����ܲԳ����������’s utilize Crunchbase data — including funding and valuation, and milestones such as financial growth, key leadership hires, market share expansion and headcount growth — to forecast the likelihood of a private company launching an IPO, providing a probability score and its supporting evidence. Read more about ����ܲԳ����������’s Predictions & Insights and its methodology for IPO predictions .

Related reading:

• Crunchbase Predicts: IPOs Picked Up In 2025 And The Outlook For 2026 Is Even More Optimistic��
• Crunchbase Predicts: Why Top VCs Expect More Venture Dollars, Bigger Rounds And Fewer Winners In 2026
• Crunchbase Predicts: Why The Race For Talent And Tech Could Accelerate Startup M&A In 2026
• 6 Charts That Show The Big AI Funding Trends Of 2025
• The IPO Market Is Opening Up. These 14 Companies Could Be Next.

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

This week has been a busy one for good-sized rounds, led by $500 million financings for crypto unicorn and AI-enabled parking provider . We also saw multiple large financings for biotech startups, plus some big rounds for cybersecurity and enterprise software.

1. (tied) , $500M, cryptocurrency: San Francisco-based crypto payments company Ripple raised $500 million at a $40 billion valuation. Funds managed by affiliates of and led the investment, along with , , and .

1. (tied) , $500M, parking: Metropolis, an AI-powered checkout-free parking platform, announced that it has secured $1.6 billion in debt and equity financing, including a $500 million Series D at a $5 billion valuation. led the equity financing for Los Angeles-based Metropolis, while provided a $1.1 billion term loan.

3. , $435M, cybersecurity: Armis, a provider of tools for monitoring cyber risk exposure, closed on $435 million in what it described as pre-IPO funding round. led the financing, which a $6.1 billion valuation for the 10-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

4. , $200M, neurotech: Synchron, a developer of nonsurgical brain-computer interface technology, picked up $200 million in Series D funding led by . The New York-based company wants to use its technology to restore communication and mobility for people with paralysis.

5. , $126M, healthcare AI: Hippocratic AI, a developer of generative AI healthcare agents, landed $126 million in Series C financing. led the round, which set a $3.4 billion valuation for the Palo Alto, California-based company.

6. , $100M, marketing automation: MoEngage, an AI-enabled customer engagement platform, raised $100 million in new financing, with going to the company and 40% going to secondary share sales. and led the financing.

7. , $91M, aerial robotics: Infravision, a company that aims to transform how power lines are built and maintained with aerial robotics, raised $91 million in Series B funding. Singapore’s led the financing for the 7-year-old, Austin-based startup.

8. , $80M, AI go-to-market tools: Santa Clara, California-based Reevo, developer of an AI platform for managing go-to-market strategy and processes, launched publicly and it has raised $80 million in funding co-led by and .

9. , $75M, biotech: Palo Alto, California-based Neok Bio, a startup focused on developing antibody drug conjugates for improving cancer outcomes, emerged from stealth with $75 million, backed by Korean biotech .

10. , $65M, genomic medicines: Berkeley, California-based Azalea Therapeutics, a developer of precision genomic medicines, launched from stealth and announced it has raised $65 million in a Series A led by .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Nov. 1-7. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

This was a big week for big checks, both confirmed and reported. Among confirmed rounds, the largest financing went to fintech provider , which landed $500 million at a $22.5 billion valuation to scale its visions around agentic AI. The next-largest financings went to , a developer of medicines for brain disorders, and , a healthcare AI startup.

As for giant deals that were reported but not officially closed, was said to be a round of up to $5 billion led by that would push its valuation all the way to $170 billion.

1. , $500M, fintech: New York-based Ramp, a provider of financial products and tools for businesses to automate finance tasks, raised $500 million at a $22.5 billion valuation. led the Series E financing, which brings total equity funding to date to $1.9 billion.

2. , $372.5M, biopharma and neuroscience: MapLight Therapeutics, a biopharma startup developing medicines for brain disorders, that it raised $372.5 million in Series D funding. and co-led the financing for the 7-year-old, Redwood City, California-based company.

3. , $243M, healthcare AI: Ambience Healthcare, an AI platform for healthcare systems to use in documentation, coding and clinical documentation, raised $243 million in a Series C round. and led the financing for the San Francisco-based company.

4. , $200M, fashion: Quince, an affordable luxury brand online retailer, raised $200 million at a valuation of more than $4.5 billion, according to a report from . reportedly led the San Francisco-based company’s latest financing.

5. , $156M, AI enterprise software: San Mateo, California-based Observe, a provider of AI-enabled observability tools for businesses, raised $156 million in a Series C funding round led by . The financing brings funding to date for the 8-year-old company to more than $460 million, .

6. (tied) , $150M, fleet management: San Francisco-based Motive, a provider of fleet tracking and driver safety software, raised $150 million in a new funding round led by . The 12-year-old company is also reportedly toward an IPO.

6. (tied) , $150M, AI software: Anaconda, a provider of AI tools for businesses using Python and open source applications, it raised over $150 million in a Series C funding round led by . The Austin, Texas-based company said it currently operates profitably with over $150 million in annual recurring revenue as of July.

8. , $132M, radiopharmaceuticals: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Artbio, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical startup developing therapies (ARTs) to treat a range of cancers, raised $132 million in a Series B round that included and as lead investors.

9. , $125M, generative media: San Francisco-based Fal, a startup offering a generative image, video and audio platform for developers, raised $125 million in a Series C led by . The 4-year-old company said it has seen revenue increase 60x in the past 12 months.

10. ., $100M, cloud infrastructure: Oxide Computer Co., a developer of cloud infrastructure for on-premises computing, raised $100 million in a Series B round led by . Founded in 2019, the Emeryville, California-based company has raised over $260 million to date, .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of July 26-Aug. 1. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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Over the past year we’ve spoken with dozens of SaaS founders, GTM leaders and buyers navigating a fundamental shift in how enterprise software gets sold and, more critically, how it gets bought.

There’s a creeping recognition that the classic SaaS playbook is breaking down. Not because of poor execution, but because the environment has changed. Software buyers, even at the enterprise level, are no longer inclined to sign multiyear contracts for static feature sets. Why? Because they don’t believe that the product they’re evaluating today will be the one they’ll want to use in six months.

Put more bluntly: The velocity of innovation, particularly around AI, is collapsing the shelf life of software differentiation. And when the next better, faster, smarter product is only one funding cycle away, buying behavior becomes inherently more cautious, incremental and experimental.

The end of the ‘big commitment’ era

There was a time — not long ago — when a great software product, paired with a solid top-down sales motion and a three-year prepaid contract, was the holy grail of startup revenue. These deals gave startups predictability, boosted LTV and fed capital-efficient growth. They also locked buyers into a bet on your roadmap and execution.

But that playbook assumed a certain level of stasis in the competitive environment. In the AI-native era, that stasis is gone.

Buyers now see a constant churn of “smarter” tools promising faster insights, lower costs and smaller teams. And with the barrier to switching lower than ever — thanks to modular architectures, API-first design and user-driven adoption — the downside of churn is no longer enough to dissuade the leap.

Instead of committing to a three-year vision, buyers are opting for six-month experiments.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does require a different sales and product strategy.

The product isn’t the moat. The velocity is.

As a founder or GTM leader, you now have to sell not just what your product does, but how fast it’s evolving. Enterprise buyers — especially the most sophisticated ones — aren’t buying functionality, they’re buying future-proofing.

If your pitch sounds like: “We have the best X today,” you’re already in trouble.

If it sounds like: “We’re shipping faster than anyone else in our category, and we’ll solve the next five problems you haven’t thought about yet,” you have a shot.

In other words, the new software moat isn’t feature-based — it’s velocity-based. That means tight product feedback loops, visible release cadences and a clear commitment to iteration over perfection.

We’ve seen leading founders bring engineering into late-stage sales conversations — not to talk tech, but to give buyers confidence in the product’s evolution. Increasingly, this is what buyers are looking for: a partner who’s riding the AI wave with them, not locking them into a static solution.

Tactics that win now

We’ve distilled a few key tactics from the top sellers who are thriving in this new reality:

1. Shorter contracts, faster proof. Buyers want to see your product work. Not in a 90-day POC, but in a real-world, real-data environment. Winning sales teams are leaning into smaller land deals that prove value in weeks, not months, and using that as the wedge.
2. Transparent roadmaps. Obsessive secrecy is out. Strategic transparency is in. Customers want to know what’s coming — and that you’re not being caught flat-footed by AI-native competitors. The best GTM teams have a comms rhythm around roadmap progression that builds confidence (and upsells).
3. Sell speed of iteration, not completeness. One of us used to say, “The perfect roadmap is always three quarters out.” Today, it might be three weeks. Set the expectation with buyers that continuous change is a feature, not a flaw, and back it up with actual release logs, changelogs or dev blog updates.
4. Use AI, but don’t oversell it. Every product pitch now includes the words “AI-powered.” That means the differentiation isn’t whether you have AI — it’s whether your AI meaningfully improves workflow outcomes. If it doesn’t, don’t make it central to the pitch. Sophisticated buyers are already numb to the buzzwords.

What this means for founders

For founders, the implication is clear: you’re not just competing on product anymore. You’re competing on change management, on delivery cadence and on buyer trust that you’re building toward the right future — fast enough to stay relevant.

The go-to-market function now needs to look more like a product marketing team on steroids: deeply integrated with engineering, constantly iterating messaging and reflexively responsive to market shifts.

If you’re selling software in this age of rapid AI evolution, assume your buyer is running a rolling RFP every quarter in their head. That’s a hard environment to win in — but for the founders who embrace speed, transparency and ongoing value delivery, it’s also one where you can build an unshakeable advantage.

is managing partner at . , a former head of sales at , is a GTM adviser to AI-native startups.

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Acquirers made just over $100 billion worth of disclosed-price startup purchases��1 in the first half of 2025, per Crunchbase . That’s a whopping 155% increase from the same period last year, showing buyers are increasingly willing to write big checks for sought-after companies.

Notably, roughly a third of this year’s total comes from a single deal: ’s planned purchase of cybersecurity unicorn for a record-setting $32 billion. But there were other startups selling in multibillion-dollar acquisitions as well, including device designer and automation software provider .

Dealmaking gets more frenetic

Deal count, meanwhile, has held steadier, with the number of announced acquisitions hovering in the mid-400s for the past three quarters. The number of M&A deals tends to be less influenced by market conditions, since buyers are inclined to go bargain hunting during down cycles and compete aggressively for hot companies during bullish ones.

Lately, the ambience leans more frenetic, particularly as pertains to AI. This was evidenced this past week, with the drama around AI coding provider . The startup was about to sell to for $3 billion until made a deal to hire its CEO and co-founder, , and pay $2.4 billion for compensation and licensing.Then on Monday, AI startup announced it would acquire Windsurf.

AI was also the draw for the largest Q2 deal, OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Io, a design startup co-founded by and focused on AI-powered devices.

Even with all the excitement around AI, however, the majority of M&A spending this year hasn’t gone to the space. Per Crunchbase , only around $15 million of disclosed-price acquisitions were for AI startups in the first half of this year. (However, that excludes Wiz, which isn’t classified as an artificial intelligence company but does list AI security as one of its focus areas.)

Biggest H1 M&A deals

So where is M&A spending concentrating?

To get a sense, we used Crunchbase to aggregate a list of 13 of the largest acquisitions in the first half of this year.

As shown above, besides AI, enterprise software fared well. Top deals in the space include Moveworks’ $2.85 billion acquisition by , as well as accounts payable platform ’s $2.5 billion sale to .

In the healthcare space, electronic health record software provider delivered one of the biggest outcomes, selling a majority stake to private equity firm at a reported $5.3 billion valuation.

Smaller and stealthier deals add up

The vast majority of startup acquisitions don’t have a disclosed price. But they can add up.

Oftentimes, these deals involve large-cap acquirers and well-funded startups. Examples from 2025 include ’s acquisition of crypto wallet startup , ’s purchase of school scheduling app , and ’s acquisition of cloud security startup ,

It helps acquirers that, four years after the venture funding peak in 2021, there’s still a large pipeline of funded companies taking a serious look at exit options. If current trends continue, we should see a growing number of them accomplishing that goal through M&A.

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• With Google’s $32B Bid For Wiz, Big Exits Are Finally Picking Up
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The deal comes just days after news broke that OpenAI’s planned $3 billion buy of Windsurf had fallen apart. then announced the same day that it had hired , Windsurf’s CEO and co-founder, and that it was paying $2.4 billion to license Windsurf’s technology and for compensation. A number of other senior staff would reportedly be going to also work for Google.

Competition for talent in the AI space is heated, and the news was considered to be a big blow for OpenAI.

For its part, Cognition says it is buying Windsurf’s intellectual property, product, trademark, brand and “strong business.” It did not reveal its purchase price. As part of the deal, the employees who were not hired by Google will be going to work for Cognition.

San Francisco-based Cognition has built an AI coding agent called Devin that supposedly helps engineers build software faster. Founded in late 2023, the startup has raised nearly $200 million in funding from investors such as ,,,, and 1, per Crunchbase .

Also backed by Founders Fund, Windsurf has raised over $240 million since its 2021 inception. Other investors include , and . According to Cognition’s announcement, Windsurf has $82 million in annual recurring revenue “with enterprise ARR doubling quarter-over-quarter.” Its user base includes over 350 enterprise customers and “hundreds of thousands” of daily active users.

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out the biggest funding rounds of last week here.

For the past couple of weeks large rounds have barely trickled in, and this week continues that trend. Just three deals hit $100 million or more as investors seem to have pulled back on big rounds early in the year.

1. (tied) , $140M, pharmaceutical: The biggest raise this week came from the pharmaceutical and prescription industry. BlinkRx, a prescription access platform, raised a $140 million Series D led by . , a partner at the investment firm, was named to the New York-based startup’s board. BlinkRx promises price transparency on drugs and delivery. Founded in 2014, the company has raised $315 million, .

1. (tied) , $140M, biotech: Biotech firm Tidal Vision tied for the biggest round this week, raising a $140 million Series B financing from several investors including . The Bellingham, Washington-based company creates scalable biomolecular solutions for critical industries — including water treatment, agriculture and material science. Tidal is building new infrastructure in Europe, Texas and Ohio and will use the new�� cash to accelerate research and development in chitosan — a nontoxic biopolymer — and adjacent technologies. Founded in 2015, the company has raised nearly $224 million, .

3. , $100M, cybersecurity: Although cybersecurity venture funding bounced back some last year, it ended 2024 being relatively stagnant. This year, not much has changed, but this week did see the biggest round of the year so far for the industry. Application security startup Semgrep raised a $100 million Series D funding led by . led the company’s $53 million Series C in 2023. Founded in 2017, Semgrep has raised $204 million, according to the company. Semgrep’s autonomous code security platform allows developers and security engineers to create guardrails that proactively secure application development.

4. (tied) , $65M, defense: Another day and another big round for a defense tech firm. Hidden Level raised a $65 million Series C led by . The Syracuse, New York-based startup said the new cash comes six months after it raised a previously unannounced $35 million Series B. Hidden Level’s passive radar systems allows users to detect and track drones and other objects in the air — a more common tactic in modern warfare. The passive radar systems cannot identify approaching aircraft without being detected. The company has contracts this year to support deployments for the , , U.S. Africa Command, , , U.S. Northern Command and other federal, state and local agencies. Hidden level is just the latest startup to collect a big check — or two — from VCs interested in defense tech. Just last week, El Segundo, California-based , a defense manufacturer developing long-range hypersonic strike weapons, raised a $100 million Series A in a mix of debt and equity. led the equity portion.

4. (tied) , $65M, enterprise software: Denver-based Nextworld, a provider of enterprise platforms that enable businesses to create tailored software solutions, closed a $65 million Series F led by the . The company plans to grow strategic partnerships and accelerate its research and development capabilities.�� Founded in 2016, this is the first announced round, .

6. (tied) , $50M, healthcare: New York-based Berry Street, a nutrition counseling platform, raised $50 million. No lead investors were named, but investors included , and others. Founded in 2022, the company has raised $59 million, .

6. (tied) , $50M, healthcare: Staying in the same nutritional sector, San Francisco-based Fay,�� a digital nutritional therapy platform, locked up a $50 million Series B led by at a $500 million valuation. Founded in 2022, Fay says it has raised $75 million.

8. (tied) , $45M, smart building: Minneapolis-based 75F, a developer of AI-driven commercial HVAC automation, announced a $45 million Series B funding round led by ’s Net Zero Alliance. Founded in 2012, the company has raised nearly $75 million, .

8. (tied) , $45M, edtech: Denver-based MagicSchool, an AI platform for education, raised a $45 million Series B led by . Founded in 2023, the company has raised $62 million, .

10. , $36M, cybersecurity: Boston-based 7AI, an agentic security platform, raised a $36 million seed. Investors included the likes of and . Founded in 2024, this is the company’s first raise, .

Big global deals

The largest deal of the week came from our neighbors to the north.

• Toronto-based , a multichannel programmatic advertising platform that uses AI and automation in its software to enhance capabilities and user experience, raised a $235 million growth round led by .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Feb. 1 to Feb. 7. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

So far this year, SaaS and enterprise software companies have raised $4.7 billion in seed- through growth-stage financing, . That puts 2024 on track to come in far below last year’s $17.4 billion annual tally —��which was itself the lowest total in years.

For perspective, we charted out funding and deal counts from 2019 through 2024.

A tough week for enterprise software stocks

Startup funding declines come amid what is shaping up as a challenging period for publicly traded SaaS and enterprise software companies.

On Thursday, 1��shares were down more than 20% after the company lowered guidance for the current quarter, cooling demand from customers who were taking more time to complete orders.

At the same time, shares of process automation software provider dropped by around 30% following a disappointing earnings report and downwardly revised quarterly forecast.

More broadly, it’s been a tough month for enterprise software. The , which includes many of the most prominent public SaaS businesses, has sharply underperformed the and S&P 500 and is now in negative territory for 2024. The Bessemer index saw a particularly steep decline beginning in late May.

Some big startup rounds are still closing

Even amid a tougher fundraising environment, we are still seeing some large financings for SaaS and enterprise software this year.

The biggest by far is cloud security provider ’s $1 billion Series E earlier this month, co-led by , and . The round set a $12 billion valuation for the 4-year-old company, which was founded in Israel and is headquartered in New York.

Another large financing went to Silicon Valley-based , which markets AI-powered work assistants to enterprise customers. The company raised $200 million in a February Series D.

In the food service market, meanwhile, Irvine, California-based landed $175 million in an early May financing led by . The company sells software to restaurant operators for managing and optimizing finances and staffing.

Not like it used to be

While funding hasn’t evaporated, we’re seeing far fewer megadeals in SaaS and enterprise software than a few years ago.

Over the past 12 months, 21 deals of $100 million or more have closed, per Crunchbase data. By comparison, during the peak year for deal-making — 2021 — there were 147 such financings.

For 2024, year-over-year investment totals are also quite a bit lower due to a single large 2023 round: the $6.5 billion for fintech unicorn . That’s the largest financing in the space ever, per Crunchbase data, and thus obviously a tough comp to match.

Going forward, we’ll be looking to public markets to see if earnings outlooks improve for SaaS heavyweights and if investors regain their enthusiasm for the space. In private markets, meanwhile, investment remains subdued, albeit with a steady flow of deals still getting done.

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