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| The Daily Pitch |
| PE, VC and M&A |
| Your edge on global private capital markets |
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| Life after SaaS: The doomsday narrative has it backward, PitchBook's Rudy Torrijos and Derek Hernandez write in our analyst note. What we're seeing is a pivot from SaaS to "service as software" as AI launches a 20-year enterprise super-cycle. Download the note |
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| AI investors shift upstream as VC tightens in Asia-Pacific |
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By Melanie Tng, APAC Private Capital Analyst
As VC grows more selective across Asia-Pacific, AI is still drawing checks—but increasingly, they're going to infrastructure, not apps.
New PitchBook data shows AI returns in the region are less about consumer-facing applications and more about infrastructure that can be deployed across enterprises and industries. Capital is clustering upstream, where AI is embedded as a durable, enabling layer rather than a standalone product.
AI software, data platforms, semiconductors and edge computing together attracted over 1,000 VC deals and roughly $8 billion last year, according to our analyst note on AI VC dealmaking in the region. |
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Overall deal count remains far below the 2021 peak, but funding has rebounded, signaling that fewer startups are raising much larger rounds.
That selectivity shows up most clearly at the later stage. The median AI infrastructure deal reached $12.6 million in 2025, as investors directed capital around scaled platforms with established enterprise customers.
Early-stage funding, by contrast, continued to wane—raising the bar for startups without clear commercialization paths.
India and Japan led by deal count, reflecting deep enterprise software ecosystems and a continued shift in dealmaking away from China. But China remained on top in deal value through much larger financings tied to domestic computing power and data priorities.
Downstream, applied AI—including industrial automation, healthcare and financial software—continued to attract capital. But funding was increasingly shaped by corporate adoption rather than venture-led scale.
Corporate VC gained share in 2025, reinforcing strategic partnerships and trade sales as the most common exit paths for applied AI startups. |
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| No more FINAL_final_v7 edits with Macabacus |
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• VC funding for the defense tech industry held its ground at nearly $50 billion in 2025, as investors targeted scaled production over innovation. Read the report
• Software looms large. Amid concerns over AI-driven disruption, software remains the largest sector in the broadly syndicated leveraged loan market, according to the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index. Go deeper
• Participants at last week's IPEM Wealth conference expressed hope that private wealth will continue to grow, but more players will be reaching for a slice of the pie. Read our reporter's notebook |
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| Apollo, Schroders push to expand private market access for 401(k) plans |
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| Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management. (Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images) |
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By Madeline Shi, Senior Private Equity Reporter
The largest listed managers have all looked down market over the past two years into the retail channel. Each firm is taking a different approach to constructing products for the retail market, which, in an ideal world, will perform better than their public market equivalents, while being more transparent, cheaper and more liquid than traditional private equity.
Apollo Global Management announced its latest effort on Monday, a strategic partnership with UK-based asset manager Schroders. The collaboration, which the $908 billion manager hopes will deliver "multi-billion-dollar annual flows," will initially roll out products that blend public- and private debt investments made by Schroders, its private investing arm Schroders Capital and Apollo.
The first offering is expected to launch later this year, targeting UK high-net-worth clients, with a Collective Investment Trust geared towards US defined contribution investors launching in the second quarter.
A white paper produced by Apollo in August described a CIT as a structure in which illiquid assets sit alongside a "liquidity sleeve" that invests in assets such as government treasuries or investment-grade bonds.
These can be liquidated to fulfill redemption requests from investors but also provide a benchmark against which the private portion of the portfolio can be valued at the end of each day, a feature Apollo Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan views as a "big deal" for private equity in its attempts to win retail capital.
The ability to provide daily liquidity is also vital, he added, even as many in the private market industry have "spoken against" it. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• Are the private markets really ready for the involvement of individual investors? In an effort to broaden the appeal of private assets, firms are going for a retail approach to entice individuals, but they might not fully expect what's to come once the doors open. [Bloomberg]
• How Bad Bunny's Super Bowl show came together. Celebrating Latin cultures, the Grammy-winning artist's performance was detailed and calculated, with meticulous set design and representation at the forefront. [Architectural Digest]
• Novo Nordisk is suing Hims & Hers for copying its weight-loss pill. The telehealth startup fired back, saying that "Big Pharma is weaponising the US judicial system." [Financial Times] |
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| Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: |
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