Good day. Remaining value, in a venture capital context, is the estimated market worth of a fund’s active investments. It excludes any distributions from exits or uncalled capital in the form of dry  powder. This “paper value” can fluctuate widely based on market conditions and projects potential returns from a fund’s illiquid and unrealized assets at a moment in time.

On the back of investor demand for a slice of artificial intelligence, the remaining value in U.S. venture capital funds rose above $1 trillion in 2025—its highest level ever.

The estimate peaked at $1.08 trillion as of June 2025, according to the latest data from PitchBook. It was the second consecutive measure of remaining value to surpass $1 trillion, and just the third time since recording began in 1997.

Last year’s measure represented a 7.4% increase from December 2024, and was up 6.2% over the previous record set in 2021. Measures of remaining value don’t include stakes in startups held by hedge funds or corporations.

“GPs are putting capital to work in AI under the hope and impression that it will deliver generational change in the economy, and drive returns that are equivalent,” Kyle Stanford, director of U.S. venture capital research at PitchBook, said. AI now accounts for 40% of market value among all VC-backed companies, according to the data firm.

“This focus on AI is driving competition for term sheets,” he said. “Investors are willing to sacrifice on price in order to acquire a stake in the top companies.”

To be sure, AI is being rapidly adopted by companies, but the concentration of capital poses systemic risk to the market should valuations prove to be inflated.

Stanford estimates risks are greatest in sectors that have become crowded with multiple AI-focused startups competing for the same slice of future gains, including software as a service, life sciences and fintech.

“The speed of development within AI has been incredible,” he said, “and there are many companies chasing the same markets.”

—Jon Leckie is the data editor for WSJ Pro.

And now on to the news...

Nvidia-backed AI startup Synthesia raises funding. Artificial-intelligence company Synthesia raised $200 million at a $4 billion valuation, adding fresh capital to develop software that businesses can use to train employees through interactive videos. The Series E funding round included existing backers such as NVentures, Nvidia’s venture capital arm, Accel, Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates, PSP Growth and Air Street Capital. Google Ventures led the round, which also included Hedosophia and Evantic—the venture fund established by former Sequoia investor Matt Miller.

• Founded in 2017 by a team of AI researchers and entrepreneurs from colleges including Stanford and Cambridge, London-based Synthesia specializes in text-to-video generation.

A fracturing global order has more governments shopping for satellites. Countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia are investing in their own satellites or paying for exclusive access to private satellites. Their goal: ensuring steady communications, data and intelligence, critical for national security as conflict and geopolitical tensions spread. MB Group, a conglomerate in Oman, on Monday said it struck a deal with San Francisco-based Astranis for an internet satellite. The nine-figure agreement will provide the Sultanate of Oman with sovereign control over its digital infrastructure and help MB support the country’s development goals, executives said.

Private equity is in the dark about the details of the Trump administration’s plans to open Americans’ 401(k) accounts to alternative asset classes, but hopes that these latest efforts are enough to move the needle after years of failed attempts. Following calls for change from the Trump administration, both the Labor Department and the Supreme Court are rethinking the question of who can sue their employer over high 401(k) fees. These types of lawsuits are considered to be the main impediment to private equity’s inclusion in defined-contribution retirement accounts.

Funds

Pinegrove Opportunity Partners, a venture and growth secondaries investor, closed its inaugural fund with $2.2 billion in commitments, exceeding the original $2 billion target.

People

Andreessen Horowitz said Christian Keil joined the firm’s American Dynamism practice as an investing partner. He previously spent seven years at Astranis.

Sierra Ventures appointed Shomik Ghosh as a partner. He previously served as a partner at Boldstart Ventures.

Connect Ventures, a new venture capital firm with origins as a joint venture between Creative Artists Agency and New Enterprise Associates, named Nicole Quinn and Michael Blank as managing partners and co-founders.

Flare Capital Partners named Kendall Cook as manager of events and community.

Ricursive Intelligence, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based frontier AI lab, landed $300 million in Series A funding at a $4 billion post-money valuation. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the investment, which included additional support from DST Global, NVentures, Felicis, Sequoia Capital and others.

Standard Nuclear, an Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based startup focused on the production of advanced nuclear fuel and radioisotope power systems, scored $140 million in Series A funding. Decisive Point led the round, which included participation from Chevron Technology Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, XTX Ventures and others.

Zocks, a San Francisco-based AI platform for financial advisors, raised $45 million in Series B funding co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors.

Memcyco, a Boston-based platform protecting enterprises from brand impersonation scams and account takeover, secured $37 million in Series A funding. NAventures led the round, which saw participation from Capri Ventures and Venture Guides.

Compa, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based compensation intelligence platform for enterprise teams, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Jump Capital led the investment, with additional participation from Crosslink Capital, Storm Ventures, Permanent Capital and others.

Fiddler AI, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based enterprise AI observability and security platform, secured $30 million in Series C financing. RPS Ventures led the investment, which saw contributions from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lux Capital and Insight Partners.

Visitt, a New York-based property operations platform, snagged $22 million in Series B funding from investors including Susquehanna Growth Equity, Vertex Ventures Israel and Sarona Ventures.

Tradespace, an IP management platform, fetched $15 million in Series A funding led by AVP.

Mine, a New York-based personal finance startup for young adults, grabbed $14 million in Series A funding. Led by 359 Capital, the round included participation from Kleiner Perkins, FJ Labs and others.

Opendate, an Indianapolis-headquartered live events platform, nabbed $14 million in Series A funding led by High Alpha.

Jelou, an Ecuador-headquartered startup building AI agents enabling companies to run financial operations inside conversational channels, obtained $10 million in Series A funding led by Wellington Access Ventures.

Midship, a San Francisco-based platform automating Sarbanes-Oxley testing and internal audit workflows, was seeded with nearly $4.2 million in funding led by Costanoa Ventures.

Nerd Apply, a New York-based startup that helps guide the college application process, landed $3.2 million in seed funding from investors including Riverpark Ventures and Alumni Ventures.

Mantas, a Dubai-based digital risk insurance startup, launched from stealth with nearly $1.8 million in funding from investors including Nuwa Capital and Suhail Ventures.

• Quantum-Computing Company IonQ to Buy Chip Maker SkyWater for $1.8 Billion

• Army Awards Salesforce $5.6 Billion Software Deal

• Landmark Trial Tests Claims That Social Media Harms Teens

• Nvidia Invests $2 Billion in CoreWeave in AI-Factory Collaboration

• Senate Antitrust Panel Chair Raises Concerns Over Netflix-Warner Deal

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

Join us on LinkedIn.