Joanna Glasner

An analysis of Crunchbase data for pet-related startup funding shows that the space remains a lively area. So far in 2025, venture and strategic investors have poured more than $660 million into pet- and veterinary-related startup categories globally, which is roughly flat with last year.

Global defense spending is on the rise, and startups are vying for a larger share of the outlays, and it looks like there’s plenty of capital to go around. Last year, world military expenditures rose 9% to top $2.7 trillion, per think tank Sipri’s estimate. It was the sharpest rise in more than 30 years.

While there’s no single explanation for the decline in investment to consumer-facing product startups, it doesn’t help that this has been a tough area for returns. It’s a widespread trend affecting areas including fashion, consumer electronics and the once-burgeoning direct-to-consumer space.

Funding to startups specifically focused on education technology remains at depressed levels relative to a few years ago. However, the tallies — which exclude general-purpose AI platforms popular with educators, students and investors alike — may understate enthusiasm at the intersection of tech and education.

The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: A Lot Of Really Big Deals

Transportation has been an underrepresented sector for venture investors in recent quarters, as money increasingly concentrates in hotter niches such as generative AI. Even so, we are seeing enthusiasm around areas including sustainable batteries, high-tech parking garages, and the autonomous driving software stack.

According to a report in The New York Times, Jeff Bezos will serve as co-CEO of a new artificial intelligence startup, Project Prometheus, which is launching with $6.2 billion in funding and focused on applying the technology to physical tasks.

Virtually everyone would like to live a longer, healthier life. Given the ubiquity of this aspiration, it’s not surprising that longevity has a lengthy history as a popular startup investment theme. However, the space is also not immune to market dynamics. We look at what's happened in the sector this year.

The largest rounds this week went to AI and defense tech companies, amid a generally busy period for big financings, with coding automation platform Cursor and parent company Anysphere leading by a long shot with a $2.3 billion Series D.

Coding automation platform Cursor announced today that it has raised $2.3 billion in Series D funding at a $29.3 billion post-money valuation — more than 3x higher than what Cursor parent company Anysphere secured just six months ago.