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Healthcare services: PE deals in the sector fell 13% quarter-over-quarter amid shifting regulatory and policy conditions. Our report breaks down areas that are most affected and the outlook going forward. View it here.
A market emerges: Secondaries are well positioned to evolve into a core pillar of the VC ecosystem, according to our US VC Secondary Market Watch. Our analyst attended SuperReturn Secondaries, a forum on the shifting market. Read her takeaways.
European VC valuations: Q3 continued to see elevated valuations, but our data suggests the region is entering a more rational phase. See the data. |
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| A message from Apollo Global Management |
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In a world moving forward, your thinking can’t stand still.
Learn more |
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| Construction and engineering is booming |
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The construction and engineering sector is having a moment—and it's not subtle. In Q3 alone, deal value surged to $36.7 billion, a 34% leap from the previous quarter.
Fewer deals closed, but they were bigger, bolder and more strategic. Over the first nine months of the year, deal count rose 14% year-over-year, and total value hit $79.6 billion, up 19%. That's serious momentum.
PE is clearly shifting gears. Investors are chasing scale, not just stacking small add-ons. Rising valuations may be making those smaller deals harder to land, but the appetite for consolidation is still strong.
Specialty construction, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, interiors and facades, remains fragmented and full of potential. Elevated valuations may be making deals harder to close, but they are still happening; underlying demand is too compelling.
And then there's the data center boom. As AI and tech continue to explode, the need for infrastructure, especially electrification and cooling, is skyrocketing. PE firms are jumping in, seeing construction and engineering as the backbone of the digital future.
There's also a practical edge to this sector. It's relatively shielded from tariffs, thanks to its service-heavy revenue model. Even when material costs rise, many firms can pass those costs on to customers. Projects have long lead times, and revenue streams are highly visible.
Scale can add significant value, enabling bidding on increasingly larger projects. Add in the push for nearshoring and reshoring, and you've got a recipe for sustained demand in factories, warehouses and infrastructure.
Big deals are making headlines. KKR's $6.5 billion buyout of Spectris and Vista Energy's $2.0 billion acquisition of Acumatica are just two examples. On the exit side, activity mirrored the deal trend: fewer exits, but bigger ones. Exit value rose 14% to $33 billion, with Apollo Global Management's $2.3 billion acquisition of Kelvion and Blackstone's $1.6 billion purchase of Shermco Industries leading the pack.
Read more on this in our Q3 Construction & Engineering report.
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Enterprise SaaS VC Trends
The big story in enterprise SaaS in Q3 was the explosive return of the exit market. Our Q3 2025 report shows exit value skyrocketed 206.6% QoQ.
Two massive public offerings from Figma ($15.7 billion) and Klarna ($14.9 billion) dominated the quarter, signaling confidence to the private markets.
Deal count also remained remarkably stable, holding flat at a healthy, post-bubble level. This suggests that while mega-deals grab headlines, investment in everyday enterprise solutions continues at a steady pace. |
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Beyond the funding numbers, AI is fundamentally changing enterprise software, becoming a core operational component, with major vendors in CRM, SCM, and knowledge management all shipping new AI-driven features.
The biggest strategic pivot of the quarter came from OpenAI with ChatGPT's new “Instant Checkout” feature, evolving it from a discovery engine to a direct commerce platform. This move to monetize transactions challenges established e-commerce models and puts OpenAI in direct competition with Google and Amazon.
Read the report |
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Healthtech VC Trends
Healthtech startups raised $3.9 billion in Q3, marking a sustained recovery as deal volume rose 12% and investors doubled down on later-stage, AI-enabled platforms.
The median VC pre-money valuation climbed to a record of $38.5 million, even as deal activity remain below its 2021 peak. These trends signal renewed momentum in healthtech VC after two years of uneven funding activity. |
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VC exit count hit an all-time high of 42 in the quarter, reflecting greater liquidity for smaller startups even as IPO activity paused.
With more than $1.2 billion in venture funding to date, RCM remains one of healthtech’s most investable AI subsectors as provider and payer automation enters a new “bot-versus-bot” phase. Meanwhile, a growing roster of late-stage healthtech names, including Zocdoc, Spring Health, and Ro, are positioned for potential 2026 listings.
Read the report |
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Our insights and data featured in the press:
• Supply-chain tech companies raised $3 billion in Q3, up about 28% year-over-year, while deal count fell 9% annually to 154 deals during the same period. [The Wall Street Journal]
• Over the past 12 months, overall debt as a multiple of EBITDA has been lower than it was in 2021. [Financial Times]
• Only 823 venture funds have raised over $80 billion—a drop from 2022, when 4,430 funds raised roughly $412 billion. [Institutional Investor]
• The PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor projected a dip in total life sciences venture deals in 2025 compared to last year. [BioPharma Dive]
• AI-related deals in APAC have expanded their share of total VC activity. [Axios]
• In Europe's top five football leagues, 36.5% of clubs have PE participation. [Bloomberg Línea]
• Defensetech funding is up 200% year-over-year. [Bloomberg] |
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