Over the past few years, the venture market has gone through a classic overheating phase. Capital was cheap, growth became an end in itself, and valuations often outpaced real business value. Startups scaled fast — but not always sustainably. That phase is now over.
This shift opens the door to a new technology cycle — more sober, pragmatic, and, in my view, healthier.
After waves of layoffs, budget optimization, and strategic resets, companies worldwide are asking a simple question: what truly creates value and helps businesses survive and scale in times of instability? Increasingly, the answer lies not in flashy “wow products,” but in infrastructure solutions.
The new cycle is a cycle of efficiency. Businesses are no longer willing to pay for experiments without clear economic outcomes. Instead, demand is growing for technologies that reduce costs, improve control, and optimize already complex and overloaded infrastructures.
This is particularly evident in cloud services. Over the past decade, cloud became the standard for scaling — but also a source of serious financial risk. For many companies, cloud bills have turned into a “black box”: costs keep rising while transparency and control remain limited.
This is where infrastructure AI solutions step in — not as a trend, but as a necessity.
AI Working “Under the Hood”
Today, artificial intelligence is often associated with user-facing products: chatbots, content generation, new interfaces. However, the greatest long-term value is created by AI working “under the hood” of businesses — within complex systems focused on optimizing resources, architecture, and costs.
A strong example is Cast AI, which specializes in AI-driven Kubernetes and cloud infrastructure optimization, helping global businesses significantly reduce compute costs without sacrificing performance. In a world where cloud budgets are measured in millions, such solutions are no longer optional — they are mission-critical.
Infrastructure startups may not always dominate headlines. Yet they are building the foundation of a new digital economy — more rational, resilient, and mature.
Cast AI recently raised $108 million in a new funding round, reaching a valuation of over $1 billion. For TA Ventures, this marks the 17th unicorn in the fund’s portfolio — a highly illustrative example of market logic. We invested in Cast AI early not because it was a flashy story, but because it was a deeply technical company solving a systemic problem: maintaining control and efficiency within increasingly complex technology infrastructures.
In times of turbulence, companies seek solutions that genuinely reduce costs and enhance operational resilience. That is why infrastructure startups are gaining renewed attention from both customers and investors.
The Cast AI round is not a coincidence — it confirms that investing in AI infrastructure, cloud technologies, and scalable B2B solutions was a strategically sound bet.
New Rules of Venture Capital
After the overheating phase, venture capital has become more disciplined. Capital is more expensive, and expectations for business model quality have increased. The next technology cycle will be won by companies that:
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address fundamental market problems;
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create measurable economic value for customers;
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scale globally without burning excessive resources.
At TA Ventures, we continue to focus on such companies. As of early 2026, the fund’s portfolio includes 270 investments, 76 exits, 17 unicorns, and 8 IPOs. But these numbers are not an end goal — they are the result of a long-term strategy: investing in technologies that create real value and lay the foundation for the next technological cycle.
And I am convinced that this cycle will be the cycle of infrastructure.
