The Week Venture Capital Took Aim at the Future

Key deals of the week (October 30 - November 6 2025)

Market-shake: Megadeals in Europe and US underscore renewed conviction

The venture sector is showing signs of momentum gathering pace — and not just in the usual pockets. On 30 October, Legora, a Stockholm-based legal-AI startup, raised $150 million at a $1.8 billion valuation. Then on 3 November, Hippocratic AI closed a roughly $126 million round to hit a $3.5 billion valuation. And on 5 November, Armis (cybersecurity) raises $435 million pre-IPO round at $6.1 billion valuation after refusing M&A offers.

These are not seed rounds. They’re large, late-stage checks flowing into companies that span legal, healthcare AI, cybersecurity. It signals that LPs and growth-investors are increasingly willing to back scale plays—not just early sprint bets. The implied message: patience for outcomes is longer, but conviction remains.

Sector spotlight: From hype to infrastructure in AI, quantum and regulated domains

The common theme in these deals is not just “AI” but embedding advanced tech into complex domains: legal services (Legora), quantum computing (Quantinuum).

Fidelity International has entered the quantum race, joining an oversubscribed $800 million round in Quantinuum — the Honeywell-backed computing firm now valued at $10 billion, according to Bloomberg Law. This is a signal that quantum computing is graduating from research-play to commercial bet.

For VCs focused on 5-10 year horizons: the “tech stack of the future” is being built today. If quantum is to deliver on promise, the companies that secure commercial traction and capital now may define the next infrastructure wave.

Regional growth: India off the charts in monthly value

In India, data show that PE/VC investment in October exceeded US$5 billion — highest monthly figure in two years. Three mega-deals alone accounted for ~$2.3 billion of that: International Holding Company’s $1B into Sammaan Capital; Blackstone Group’s $705 million into Federal Bank; General Atlantic’s $600 million into PhonePe.

Zynk, a cross-border fintech infrastructure startup out of Hyderabad, has raised $5 million in a round led by Hivemind Capital, with support from global VCs including Alliance DAO, Coinbase Ventures, Transpose Platform, Polymorphic Capital, Tykhe Ventures, and Contribution Capital. The capital will help Zynk expand its partnerships and strengthen both its liquidity and compliance infrastructure. 

While the broader global deal count remains muted, India is showing capital is still deployable when you have scale, market fit and structural tailwinds.

Caution signal: Deal volume remains weak even as dollars flow

Despite the splashy rounds above, underlying volume is still fragile. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, global venture / PE rounds in October fell to 1,007 in October from 1,469 in the previous month. Year-over-year comparisons reveal a slight increase in transaction value, which was up nearly 3% however deal volume declined 36% from 1,577 transactions a year ago.

The ecosystem is bifurcating: fewer deals overall, but selectively larger ones. That creates a risk-return pattern where “get into the few big ones” matters more than “spray many small bets.” Fund managers, founders and LPs must align around selectivity, not breadth.

Ventures Platform’s Second Fund Signals Deepening Confidence in African VC

Ventures Platform, one of Africa’s most active early-stage firms, has raised $64 million toward a $75 million second fund — drawing backing from the Nigerian government’s iDICE program (its first-ever VC investment), IFC, BII, Proparco, Standard Bank, MSMEDA, and family offices across Europe. Seventy percent of its prior LPs re-upped. Founded in 2016, the Lagos-based firm has built a 90-company portfolio spanning fintech, healthtech, agritech, edtech, and AI — including Moniepoint, Paystack, LemFi, SeamlessHR, OmniRetail, Raenest, and Remedial Health. With this new fund, Ventures Platform will move beyond pre-seed and seed into Series A, seeking larger stakes and earlier access across Francophone and North Africa.

Even in a capital-tight cycle, Africa’s long-term venture story is alive and compounding. The mix of global LPs, recycled capital, and government participation underscores growing confidence that African innovation is shifting from experimentation to scale. 

If you’re either building a fund or operating a startup today: ask yourself whether your thesis flags selectivity and domain depth rather than sheer capital availability. Focus on sectors where technical or regulatory complexity builds a defensible advantage — not just where hype lives. Monitor capital flows for structural shifts, and align your deployment horizon accordingly.