Thursday, August 14, 2025

Startup down rounds are at a 10 year high, according to PitchBook data

The soaring valuations of the early 2020s are, finally, coming back to earth.

This week, PitchBook data revealed that 15.9% of venture-backed deals in 2025 so far have been down rounds, marking a decade high. Additionally, almost every major IPO listing in Q2 hit the public markets below its peak valuation, the data from PitchBook adds. Some examples include MNTN (at IPO, valuation was down from $2 billion to $1.1 billion), Circle (dropping from $7.7 billion to $5.8 billion), Hinge (valuation at IPO was $6.2 billion, down from the $23 billion high), and Chime (going public at $9.1 billion from a $25 billion peak valuation).

AI continues to be a bright spot in many ways—but isn’t entirely exempt either, as 29.3% of down rounds were in PitchBook’s broad AI and machine learning vertical. Of course, the biggest names in AI—like OpenAI, reportedly heading towards a $500 billion valuation, and Anthropic, reportedly raising at a $170 billion valuation—continue to hit eye-popping levels. And lower on the food chain, AI is still consistently valued at a premium, with PitchBook reporting that median Series B step-up for AI startups is 2.1x, well above the median of 1.4x that all other categories fetch.

The IPO market is, some would say, back. (I think it pretty much is, but also has been for a while, for those with the stomach for it.) In Q2, venture-backed startups in the U.S. generated $67 billion in exit value, PitchBook said—the highest since the last quarter of 2021. But here’s a sobering fact: There are still lots of unicorns out there, so distributions back to VC firms and by extension their LPs are limited.

An unsurprising but ice-cold (and very down-to-earth) number to leave you with: The unicorns that have made their public debut this year comprise a mere 1% of all U.S. unicorns.

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Venture Deals

- Reprieve Cardiovascular, a Milford, Mass.-based developer of intelligent decongestion management therapy designed to treat acute decompensated heart failure, raised $61 million in Series B funding. Deerfield Management led the round and was joined by Arboretum Ventures, Lightstone Ventures, Sante Ventures, Genesis Capital, and others.

- Protege, a New York City-based developer of data sets designed for AI training, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Footwork led the round and was joined by CRV, Bloomberg Beta, Flex Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, Shaper Capital, and others.

- Evertune, a New York City-based AI marketing platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Felicis Ventures led the round and was joined by Eniac Ventures, NextView Ventures, and angel investors.

- Isaac Health, a New York City-based health technology company for brain health and dementia care, raised $10.5 million in Series A funding. Flare Capital led the round and was joined by Industry Ventures, Black Opal Ventures, Meridian Street Capital, B Capital, and Primetime Partners.

- Thread, a New York City-based developer of an AI service desk for managed service providers, raised $8 million in funding. Integr8d Capital and David Bellini led the round and were joined by Headline, Adam Slutskin, Vince Kent, and others.

- Infinity Loop, a New York City-based AI-powered contract intelligence platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. Glasswing Ventures and TIAA Ventures led the round and were joined by Plug and Play, Restive Ventures, and angel investors.

- Studio Atelico, a San Francisco and London, U.K.-based developer of an AI engine for video games, raised $5 million in seed funding from Air Street Capital and angel investors.

- Prefer, a Singapore-based food tech company, raised $4.2 million in funding. At One Ventures and Chancery Hill Capital led the round and were joined by existing investor Forge Ventures.

- Archestra, a London, U.K.-based platform designed to enable companies to securely use AI agents and connect them to internal data sources safely, raised $3.3 million in pre-seed funding. Concept Ventures led the round and was joined by Zero Prime Ventures, Celero Ventures, RTP Global, and others.

Private Equity

- Crestview Partners and DigitalBridge Investments agreed to take WideOpenWest, an Englewood, Colo.-based broadband provider, private for approximately $1.5 billion.

- Agility Retail Group, backed by San Francisco Equity Partners, acquired Infinity Retail Services, a Turtle Lake, Wis.-based designer and manufacturer of retail fixtures and displays. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Blue Owl Capital acquired South Reach Networks, a Miami, Fla.-based fiber infrastructure provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.