Corporate venturing reached a record high in 2025, with more than 3,000 companies actively investing in startups, even as the rest of the venture capital sector declined.
Corporate investors are playing an increasingly important role in propping up the global startup ecosystem. Around one in five startup funding rounds now involves a corporate backer, and the amount of money invested in those rounds increased 70% last year to $233.8bn.
The most successful corporate investors do more than just write cheques. They engage in extensive business development with their portfolio companies and frequently become early customers for the startups they invest in. Such relationships mean corporate-backed startups tend to have higher survival rates and a higher likelihood of exits than their peers.
This report looks at how corporate investment is evolving globally as this investor class takes centre stage.
3,068
corporations invested in startups in 2025. Active corporate investors are at a record high, in contrast to an overall decline in the venture capital market
1 in 5
startup funding rounds includes a corporate investor and more than half of the funding dollars for startups come from rounds with a corporate backer
41%
of the dollars spent in in corporate-backed funding rounds went to AI startups
52%
of corporate investment teams target at least VC-level financial returns from their portfolio investments
95%
of corporate investors target early-stage (series A and B) startup funding rounds, with 52% also looking at seed and pre-seed
43%
of corporations will go on to have a commercial relationship with more than half of the startups they invest in
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