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| The Daily Pitch: Europe |
| September 18, 2025 |
| Presented by Stax |
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❓ VC is at a fork in the road. AI now dominates dealmaking, including 55% of funding year-to-date, over 22% of startups and 43.5% of total private valuations. The median Series D+ pre-money valuation for AI startups is about three times that of their non-AI counterparts, lifting the exit sizes needed for meaningful returns.
Meanwhile, fundraising is consolidating at the top as the 10 largest vehicles capture around 43% of commitments—while overall fundraising tracks toward an eight-year low. Our analysts break down these and other trends shaping the VC landscape in 2025. Download the report.
Plus...
• Compared to the pops of recent VC-backed IPOs, StubHub's first day of trading was tepid, or maybe just rational
• The Fed delivered a widely anticipated rate cut yesterday, rekindling optimism in PE
• Our latest ranking of PE's most active lenders |
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| Ranking the most active lenders in PE |
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| (Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images) |
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Ten lenders took part in at least 20 deals each for European PE-backed companies in the second quarter, with the most active three recording at least 30 apiece.
Which firms led the way? See our Q2 2025 PE Lending League Tables, sponsored by TPG Twin Brook Capital Partners. The interactive tables can be sorted by geography, deal type, sector and more. |
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| UK & EU construction software: A prime target for PE investment |
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Across the UK and Europe, construction firms are rethinking how projects get built, and increasingly, the answer involves sophisticated software ecosystems. Pre-construction planning and post-build compliance are some key areas where technology is taking on mission-critical roles that were once managed through spreadsheets and manual processes. In the UK, sustained public investment in housing and infrastructure, coupled with the resilience of certain sub-sectors like industrial and civil projects, is creating fertile ground for software providers to scale. This is a market where early, strategic investments on the right platforms could yield long-term market leadership.
Read about the market forces pulling construction firms toward digital transformation and the strategic opportunities for investors to capture value. |
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| AI helps fuel bright spots in gaming VC |
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VC funding for the gaming industry plunged over 27% quarter-over-quarter, to $904.6 million, and deal count slid 17.5% in Q2. But gaming tech and SaaS startups still collected more than $500 million, boosted by AI-driven tools that promise faster, cheaper development, according to our latest Emerging Tech Research.
Meanwhile, content creators continued to dominate exits, even as investor enthusiasm cooled. Interactive entertainment remains in demand, but developers face a paradox of stiff competition, rising costs and fewer investors willing to bankroll the next breakout hit. |
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| LPs have more negotiating power than ever before |
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| (Tiero/Getty Images) |
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The pendulum of fund term negotiating power often swings to the side of LPs, but right now it may be especially far out. From zero management fees and co-investment rights to seats on GPs' boards and LP advisory committees, allocators are negotiating an array of incentives when committing fresh capital to a new or existing manager.
And the average time-to-close for all private capital funds is the highest it's ever been, hitting 19.7 months. That's up from an average of 18.9 months in 2024, and a wide leap from 2019's 14.6 months. |
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| Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: |
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686
Deals
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2258
People
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774
Companies
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43
Funds
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