Good morning. ☕

While you were enjoying your weekend, the startup world delivered some jaw-dropping numbers. Record funding, mega-VCs going on shopping sprees, and 15 companies prepping to go public.

Grab your coffee; here are the 5 stories that show where the money is actually going.

⏱️ Read time: 4 minutes

🔥 Top VCs backed 100+ deals each in 2025 — Y Combinator, a16z, Sequoia only getting busier

💰 North American funding up 46% (thanks to AI) — AI accounted for 60% of all venture investment in 2025

🏠 Real estate AI startup raises $22M — Bessemer leads round for "hidden deals" CRM platform

🌍 $4.2 trillion invested in startups since 2000 — But has the innovation economy actually changed?

📈 15 companies on IPO radar for 2026 — From AI to space to defense, here's who's going public

Founderscrowds: The most active startup investors of 2025: Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, General Catalyst, and Sequoia Capital, each participated in over 100 deals last year.

And they're only accelerating.

The details:

Why it matters: When the biggest VCs are doing MORE deals in a "tough market," that tells you something important: there's too much good stuff to pass on. Y Combinator alone backed 100+ companies—that's two new investments every week. The narrative that "venture is pulling back" is wrong. The top firms are deploying capital faster than ever, which means: (1) there's exceptional deal flow right now, and (2) if you're not connected to these networks, you're missing the best opportunities.

The simple version: The rich are getting richer, and they're betting on MORE startups, not fewer. If you want access to the same deals they're seeing, you need to be plugged into their networks—or platforms like Founderscrowd that bring you their deal flow.

Founderscrowds: North American startup funding jumped 46% in 2025 compared to 2024, largely driven by AI, which accounted for 60% of all venture investment in the region.

The details:

Why it matters: Let's be clear: if you're not investing in AI-related companies, you're missing 60% of the market. That's not diversification—that's sitting out the biggest wealth creation event of our generation. But here's the nuance: "AI" doesn't just mean foundation models (OpenAI, Anthropic). It means AI infrastructure, AI applications, AI agents, AI tooling. The entire stack is getting funded. The question isn't "should I invest in AI?" It's "which part of the AI value chain gives me the best risk/reward?"

The simple version: Almost two-thirds of all venture money went to AI companies last year. If your portfolio doesn't reflect that, you're underweight the most important sector in tech. The wealth is being created NOW, not in five years.

Founderscrowds: Luxury Presence, an AI-powered marketing platform for real estate agents, raised $22 million in a round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Previously backed by Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff, the startup is launching a CRM that finds "hidden deals" in agents' networks.

The details:

Why it matters: Real estate is a $3 trillion market that's historically been tech-resistant. AI is finally cracking it. The "hidden deals" concept is brilliant: agents already have massive networks, but they don't know which contacts are ready to buy/sell. AI that surfaces those signals turns every agent into a data-driven sales machine. This is the AI application thesis playing out—not replacing agents, but making them 10x more effective. If it works, every real estate agent in America becomes a customer.

The simple version: AI for real estate agents that tells them which of their contacts are ready to buy or sell homes before anyone else knows. It's like having a crystal ball for your business. That's worth $22 million.

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See you inside, let’s start 2026 right.

Founderscrowds: Since 2000, $4.2 trillion has been invested into the global startup economy, producing nearly 100,000 scaleups. But research from Mind the Bridge and Crunchbase reveals the overall picture of global innovation remains largely unchanged.

The details:

Why it matters: Here's the uncomfortable truth: $4.2 trillion created a lot of wealth for VCs and founders, but it didn't fundamentally reshape the economy. Yes, we have Uber and Airbnb and Facebook. But most industries still operate the same way they did 25 years ago. The question for investors: are we funding real innovation or just incremental improvements with 10x valuations? This research suggests we might be overpaying for change that isn't as dramatic as we think. But AI might be different—it could be the technology that ACTUALLY disrupts everything. We'll see.

The simple version: We've spent $4.2 trillion on startups in 25 years and created almost 100,000 companies that scaled. Sounds impressive until you realize most industries still work the same way they did in 2000. The innovation economy might be more hype than transformation—except potentially for AI, which could be the real deal.

Founderscrowds: With a positive outlook for IPOs this year, Crunchbase forecasts 15 startups across AI, enterprise software, fintech, space, defense, healthcare, and consumer tech that could realistically go public in 2026.

The details:

Why it matters: This is your cheat sheet for where to focus pre-IPO investment attention. If these 15 companies go public, they'll create hundreds of billions in market cap—and the wealth will go to people who invested BEFORE the IPO, not after. Here's the playbook: (1) identify which companies on this list you can still access in private markets, (2) invest at current valuations, (3) wait 6-18 months for IPO, (4) sell into the IPO pop or hold for long-term gains. This is how smart money operates—they don't wait for IPOs, they position before them.

The simple version: There's a list of 15 companies that are probably going public this year. Some you know (SpaceX, Stripe), some you don't. If you can invest in any of them NOW—before they're public—you're positioned for serious gains when they list. That's what we're here to help you do.

The State of Venture in 2025:

46% — Increase in North American startup funding vs. 2024
60% — Percentage of all VC dollars that went to AI startups
100+ — Deals each from Y Combinator, a16z, Sequoia, Accel, General Catalyst
$4.2T — Invested in startups globally since 2000
97,982 — Scaleups created from that $4.2 trillion
$22M — Raised by Luxury Presence for AI-powered real estate CRM
15 — Companies forecasted to IPO in 2026 across all sectors

Three clear signals:

Top VCs did 100+ deals each in 2025. That's not pulling back—that's going all-in. The firms with the best access to founders are deploying capital faster than ever. If you think venture is contracting, you're looking at the wrong firms. The mega-VCs are feasting.

This isn't a bubble when 60% of VC dollars flow to one sector—it's a paradigm shift. Every investor needs exposure to AI infrastructure, applications, or tooling. Sitting out isn't prudence; it's career risk.

Fifteen companies across multiple sectors prepping to go public isn't speculation—it's planning. The IPO window is open. For private market investors, this is the moment: invest now, exit at IPO.