What 2025 revealed
For the venture market, 2025 was challenging—but highly indicative. Economic turbulence, geopolitical risks, and the caution of institutional investors, alongside rapid development in select technology niches, shaped a new reality for the industry.
It was not a year of fast growth, but a year of deliberate decisions, discipline, and a return to the fundamentals of venture logic.
After a period of “overheated” valuations and a race for scale, the venture market firmly entered a phase of maturity. Investors no longer buy hypotheses; they invest in teams, business models, and the ability to operate under constrained resources. Founders, in turn, learned to build companies not “for the next round,” but for long-term value creation.
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Early-stage focus returned. Seed and Series A once again became the primary entry points for venture funds, while later rounds remained selective.
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Unit economics over headline growth stories. Startups with real revenue, clear CAC, and a credible path to profitability had a clear advantage.
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Less hype, more depth. AI, biotech, defense tech, and infrastructure tech moved beyond buzzwords and became areas of systematic, long-term work.
For us, as a globally operating early-stage fund, 2025 confirmed the validity of a long-term strategy. By year-end, the TA Ventures portfolio included 270 invested companies, 76 successful exits, 16 unicorns, and 8 IPOs. These figures matter not on their own, but as the result of a focus on quality over quantity.
The development of the angel ecosystem also deserves special mention. Today, the ICLUB angel syndicate—founded alongside TA Ventures in 2017—brings together more than 6,000 investors across 42 countries, who have invested $70 million into 94 companies. Over this period, the syndicate recorded 11 exits, returning $15 million to investors. In 2025 alone, ICLUB co-invested $20 million alongside the fund. This demonstrates that collective angel investing works even in difficult times—provided there is strong expertise and disciplined selection.
Implications and expectations for 2026
In my view, 2026 will be a year of calm but confident recovery—not a leap, but steady forward movement. Several trends are already shaping the next venture cycle:
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Consolidation and M&A. Companies with strong positions will acquire those that failed to sustain a long runway, opening opportunities for both exits and strategic investments.
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A new approach to AI. Investors are increasingly viewing AI not as a standalone vertical, but as an infrastructure layer for healthtech, fintech, logistics, HR, and enterprise solutions.
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Focus on human capital. Teams capable of scaling without losing culture or speed are becoming the key asset. By our estimates, TA Ventures’ portfolio companies plan to raise around $200 million in upcoming rounds and double their headcount in the near term.
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Responsible capital. More investors are looking beyond IRR to long-term impact—technological, social, and talent-related. This is not ESG as a formality, but business resilience in the broadest sense.
A marathon, not a sprint
Today, venture capital is no longer about quick bets and aggressive scaling at any cost. It is about endurance, systems thinking, and the ability to look several years ahead. For us, investing is not only a financial instrument, but a way to develop entrepreneurship, technology, and people—even in the most challenging periods.
2025 proved this once again. 2026, I am convinced, will show who is truly ready to play the long game.
