VC Update: April 14th

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Here is a summary of key economic developments and their impact on Venture Capital from April 10th to April 14th, 2025, focusing on North America and Europe, as requested:

Big Economic Developments (April 10th - April 14th):

• Tariff Reversal and Market Rally: President Trump reversed course on his blanket tariff policy on April 10th, announcing a 90-day pause for most countries, reducing tariffs to 10%, while raising tariffs on China to 125%. This announcement sparked a significant market rally in the U.S., with the S&P 500 having its best day since 2008 and the Nasdaq its second-best day ever. The “Magnificent 7” tech companies added $1.5 trillion in market value.
• Continued Tariff Concerns Despite Pause: Despite the U.S. tariff pause, concerns remained in Europe, with European startups still reconsidering IPO plans due to market volatility caused by previous Trump-era tariffs. European VCs also expressed concern about the potential for decreased available capital and lower startup valuations due to Trump’s trade policies.
• Potential EU-U.S. Trade War Expansion: By April 11th, a potential U.S.–Europe trade war threatened to expand into digital services, with the EU considering levies on digital ad revenues of U.S. tech giants in retaliation for U.S. tariffs.
• Intensifying US-China Trade War: Over the weekend (April 12th-13th), reports indicated a rapidly intensifying tariff war between the U.S. and China.
• Market Correction Momentum Accelerated by Tariffs: Earlier in the period (around April 9th), Morgan Stanley had confirmed that recently imposed global tariffs had significantly accelerated an ongoing market correction, hitting investor sentiment and increasing risk aversion.
• Recession Risk Increasing: By April 11th, Goldman Sachs indicated that the recent market downturn, triggered by tariffs, risked evolving into a cyclical bear market amid growing recession probability. Kalshi predictions reportedly showed over a 60% chance of a recession.

Venture Capital Trends & Deals:

• AI Remains a Dominant Investment Theme (North America & Europe): AI continued to be a major focus for venture capital, with Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) reportedly aiming to raise a record-breaking $20 billion AI-focused fund. This signifies strong global investor interest in U.S.-based AI companies.
• Fintech and Insurtech Show Continued Activity: Despite broader market volatility, fintech and insurtech continued to attract strong VC interest, particularly in workflow automation, accounting, and insurance enablement.
• IPO Window Remains Constrained: The IPO environment remained challenging due to global volatility and geopolitical instability, leading several high-profile companies like Klarna and StubHub to delay their public debuts. This reinforces the trend of companies staying “private for longer”.
• Venture Debt Gaining Importance: With limited IPO opportunities, venture debt was increasingly seen as an alternative funding strategy, allowing companies to defer exits and maintain growth.
• Early-Stage Valuations Remain High: Data from Q1 2025 indicated that early-stage startup valuations had reached record highs, surpassing even the 2021 boom, with AI startups commanding significantly higher valuations. However, the increase in valuations was not matched by a rise in round volume.

Biggest Deals (by Value):

• Thinking Machines Lab (Mira Murati): Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s new AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, was reportedly planning a record-breaking $2 billion VC seed round at a $10 billion+ valuation. This would be the largest VC seed round ever. (Source: Exec Sum - Litquidity, 11.04.2025; “Term SheetFortune”, 11.04.2025)
• Safe Superintelligence (Ilya Sutskever): Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, raised $2 billion for his new AI startup, Safe Superintelligence, at a $32 billion valuation, with Greenoaks leading the round. (Source: StrictlyVC, 12.04.2025)
• Tailscale: Raised $160 million in a Series C round at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company provides secure networking infrastructure. (Source: Wall Street Rollup, 10.04.2025; The VC Corner, 13.04.2025)

Notable Early-Stage Rounds, Fintech and Insuretech Focus (Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A):

• Larridin: A $17 million Series A round for an AI workplace performance startup founded by ex-Coinbase and ex-LinkedIn executives. (Source: Stealth Startup Spy, 10.04.2025)
• Ryft (UK): A $7.4 million Series A for a fintech payments infrastructure company. (Source: Exec Sum - Litquidity, 10.04.2025)
• Luzern Risk: A $12 million Series A for a captive insurance platform. (Source: Exec Sum - Litquidity, 10.04.2025; “Term SheetFortune”, 11.04.2025)
• Artisan: A $25 million Series A for an AI-driven sales agents solution. (Source: PitchBook News, 10.04.2025)
• Wonder (UK): A $3 million pre-seed for a creative studio using AI to generate films. (Source: Sifted Newsletter, 13.04.2025)
• Damisa (UK): A £2.25 million pre-seed for a London-based cross-border stablecoin payment platform. (Source: Sifted Newsletter, 11.04.2025)
• Starhive (Sweden): Secured $5 million Pre-Series A for IT asset management with fintech overlap in enterprise SaaS. (Source: Exec Sum - Litquidity, 09.04.2025)

Notable Exits (IPOs, M&A) and Company Shutdowns:

• Ripple Acquires Hidden Road: Ripple acquired Hidden Road, a global institutional credit network, for $1.25 billion. This was the most valuable transaction noted and reflects consolidation in financial infrastructure and digital assets. (Source: FinSMEs, 09.04.2025; PitchBook News, 10.04.2025)
• No Major Fintech/Insurtech IPOs or Shutdowns Reported: The sources did not highlight any significant IPOs or shutdowns specifically within the fintech or insurtech sectors during this period. Klarna did pause its IPO plans.

VC Ecosystem Updates:

• SignalFire Raises Over $1B: San Francisco-based early-stage VC firm SignalFire, specializing in applied AI, raised over $1 billion in new capital. (Source: FinSMEs, 08.04.2025)
• Matt Miller’s New $300M Fund: Former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller was close to raising a new $300 million Europe-focused VC fund targeting Series B and C rounds in B2B and AI startups. (Source: Sifted Newsletter, 11.04.2025)
• Revent Launches $115M Impact Fund: Berlin-based VC Revent launched a $115 million second fund targeting impact ventures. (Source: Exec Sum - Litquidity, 11.04.2025)
• General Catalyst’s European Expansion: US VC firm General Catalyst planned to invest $1 billion per year in European tech and was significantly expanding its footprint. (Source: Sifted Newsletter, 13.04.2025)
• Eagle Venture Fund: Switzerland was tied to the new Eagle Freedom Fund. (Source: FinSMEs, 10.04.2025)
• Craft Ventures Layoffs: Craft Ventures, led by David Sacks, reportedly laid off staff, and one of its co-founders was stepping back, indicating internal shifts within the VC firm. (Source: The Briefing, 07.04.2025)

Sector-Specific Insights: Cryptocurrency:

• Bitcoin/Crypto Ventures Activity: Trammell Venture Partners released its third annual report on Bitcoin-native startup trends. (Source: FinSMEs, 04.04.2025)
• DRML Miner Raises $1B: DRML Miner raised $1 billion, signaling a potential return in demand for crypto/cloud mining infrastructure despite broader market volatility. (Source: Wall Street Rollup, 10.04.2025)
• MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Holdings: MicroStrategy reported a significant $5.9 billion unrealized loss on its bitcoin purchases under new accounting rules. (Source: The Briefing, 07.04.2025)
• Damisa’s Stablecoin Platform: The £2.25 million pre-seed raise for Damisa highlights continued early-stage activity in the stablecoin space. (Source: Sifted Newsletter, 11.04.2025)

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