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📍 San Francisco, July 10, 2025 — Artificial intelligence and machine learning startups posted a record-breaking $73.6 billion in venture funding across 1,603 deals in the first quarter of 2025, according to PitchBook data. This marks the highest quarterly total on record by deal value, underscoring sustained investor enthusiasm for AI technologies despite broader market volatility.
📊 Horizontal Platforms Dominate Funding
- Horizontal AI platforms—those offering foundational models and infrastructure—secured $50 billion across 426 deals
- These platforms accounted for nearly 70% of total deal value, reflecting strong demand for scalable, cross-sector AI solutions
🏭 Vertical Applications Lead in Deal Volume
- Startups focused on industry-specific AI applications led in deal count, with 1,025 transactions
- These deals represented 60% of total activity, raising a combined $19.2 billion
📈 Market Momentum The surge in funding follows a year of rapid AI adoption across sectors such as healthcare, finance, logistics, and creative industries. Analysts attribute the growth to:
- Expanding enterprise use cases
- Breakthroughs in generative AI and multimodal models
- Strong exit prospects, including IPOs and strategic acquisitions
The Q1 2025 performance sets a high bar for the remainder of the year, with investors continuing to back both infrastructure-heavy platforms and targeted vertical solutions.
For full insights, see the PitchBook Q1 2025 AI & ML VC Trends report.
