PitchBook

🤔 What's really going on in #VC? Q2’s exit value was the strongest since the slowdown started.  📊 And yet, as PitchBook Senior Analyst Emily M. Zheng explains, 2025 is still on track for the lowest #IPO count in a decade. Uncertainty around tariffs is also keeping many companies on the sidelines.  💬 “One, the venture market is currently going through a reset, not a rebound. And two, venture is extremely bifurcated with a clear split between the winners like #AI startups, and everyone else,” said Zheng.  💡 Check out this video for more insights from the Q2 2025 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor webinar, created in partnership with the National Venture Capital Association and presented by JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking, Dentons, Deloitte, and NetSuite. Then view the full recording here ➡️ https://pitchb.co/GGlfhA 

Big changes could be coming to your 401(k) following President Donald Trump's Thursday executive order, that could make it easier for 401(k)s and other workplace retirement plans to offer employees the option of investing some of their savings in alternative investments including private equity, long the domain of institutional and “accredited” high-net-worth investors. “The executive order may remove some of the objections employers have had around incorporating private assets into 401(k) options, particularly concerns around litigation; however, it may not be enough to overcome cost concerns of employer 401(k) committees or resources to evaluate investments,” analysts at PitchBook a private market data and financial research platform, wrote in a research note [https://pitchb.co/Ca0p0N]. Read more in Jeanne Sahadi's story for CNN here ➡️ https://pitchb.co/8zVRBI

#Data warehouse provider ClickHouse—which now has consistent revenue and a significant war chest from VCs—has set its eyes on the biggest potential customers. But winning market share won't be easy as it goes up against heavyweights in an increasingly competitive space: Snowflake and DataBricks. ClickHouse's plan is simple: be faster and cheaper. But the company is up against extremely well-capitalized competitors that are not interested in ceding any ground. 🗞 Learn more in this edition of The Weekly Pitch, along with the week’s top news and research from our team of industry-leading sources for info on the worlds of #VentureCapital, PE and M&A. 

GPT-5 is here, but its unveiling lacked the sparkle many were anticipating. The long-awaited new #AI model release on Thursday was partially overshadowed by misleading charts and a false answer to a simple physics question. Also missing was the sense of transformational progress that colored past launches. Many of the charts the company flaunted to showcase GPT-5’s performance had no discernible scale and misrepresented numbers. One showcased the new model’s deception rate, which visualized 47.7% as a higher bar than 50%. Another showed 52.8% as a bigger number than 69.1%. #OpenAI later published corrected charts on its website, but not before the original charts started making the rounds on X. Jacob Robbins and Rosie Bradbury take a closer look at OpenAI's underwhelming launch here ➡️ https://pitchb.co/8Hcite

Here's some context on Trump's bid today to open 401(k) and other employer-backed defined contribution plans to alternative investments, which we wrote about in a recent PitchBook article. https://pitchb.co/e0ToG2 >>What's at stake: Some $14 trillion is in Americans' retirement savings that could be invested for the first time in the private market. >>The alternative asset industry—led by private credit, equity and real estate firms—is eager to funnel a slice of that money into its small but growing lineup of fund strategies that are customized for affluent investors. >>Adding this type of market exposure to 401(k) plans has been at the top of the wish list for a coalition of asset managers lobbying Washington since Trump took office. If his executive order succeeds, more employers would offer everyday Americans access to alt-investments, expanding private-market access to the investing public on a massive scale.

Yesterday, President Trump announced that the United States will levy a 100% tariff on imported semiconductor chips, while promising to exempt companies such as #Apple that move production back to the US. PitchBook's Global Head of Private Markets Research, Paul Condra, weighed in on what this tariff could mean for the tech industry as a whole. For more of Paul's insights into the tariff's impact on the private markets, read his full report here ➡️ https://pitchb.co/SDpUEE

Let's party! 🥳 Today we celebrate the 8th anniversary of our PitchBook Mumbai office. With over 1,600 teammates, the impressive and hardworking team has massively contributed to PitchBook’s growth and success over the years. I love every chance that I get to visit the office - and I'll see you next month!

Following ESPN's acquisition of the NFL Network and RedZone from the National Football League (NFL), our analyst Kyle Walters weighed in on the implications for both the league and the network. "This deal between #ESPN and the #NFL is the first of its kind in the sports media world and could set the stage for similar transactions in the space, spanning various leagues and global regions," Walters said about the deal. For more of Kyle's analysis of the sports business landscape, download his Private Capital in Sports report ➡️ https://pitchb.co/5OZLdn

After a record-breaking secondary sale in May, New York City’s $294.6 billion collection of pension funds saw its PE performance dip this year. The pensions finalized the sale of a chunk of their PE portfolio on the secondary market to Blackstone and other buyers for $5 billion, marking the largest-ever LP-led secondary sale. Jessica Hamlin takes a closer look at what is influencing this dip here ➡️ https://pitchb.co/loywTx

We're seeing a potential banner year for #DefenseTech in 2025. Q2 alone saw $19.1 billion across 165 deals, more than double Q1 and up 200 percent year-over-year! Here’s what jumped out in PitchBook's latest Defense Tech Vertical Snapshot: 💸 Massive #VC inflows: $28.4 B YTD across 361 deals, on pace to beat 2024’s $37.9 B 📈 Valuations climbing: Median pre-money now $115 M vs. $61.3 M in 2024; median deal size $20 M 📊 Public markets proving it: Karman Space & Defense trading at 21× EV/revenue; Voyager debuting at ~16–17× 🔥 Tech hot spots: Advanced #computing & software ($16.5 B), #autonomy ($10.5 B), sensing & #security ($7.9 B) 🤖 Autonomy surge: #UAV, #UGV and #USV funding all in double-digit growth—USV deals jumped from $389.9 M in 2024 to $729 M in Q2 2025 🛡️ New priorities: #CounterDrone funding hit $324.9 M YTD; autonomous #manufacturing raised $591.5 M through Q2 🚀 Exit bounce-back: $6.9 B across 21 exits YTD, a clear signal of bigger, later-stage deals 🌍 #FiveEyes defense budgets are soaring, procurement is all about speed to need, and the #IndustrialBase is ramping up fast ⚙️ 🔍 Want the full deep dive, market map, and strategic playbook? 🔗 Download the report below! https://lnkd.in/eGZi45QY