Month: November 2025

Global Intel Hub — Checkout our Venture Capital weekly review, sponsored by Venture Capital Cross– Any Stage Private Markets.

This week saw pivotal activity in venture capital, private equity, and other private markets, marked by mega funding rounds, transformative M&A moves, and signals that the private market resurgence is not just theory—it’s happening now. The Schwab-Forge deal rocked headlines as retail access to private assets deepened, while AI and healthcare led investment volume. Next week, watch for further technology rounds, regulatory dust-up over secondary transactions, and post-acquisition strategy details from Schwab-Forge.

Major Funding Rounds

The venture capital ecosystem continued to surge, with several sizable rounds announced across November’s first week. Notably:

• Metropolis raised $500 million in a Series D, fueled by LionTree, BDT & MSD Partners, reaffirming investor confidence in urban mobility and infrastructure.techstartups​

• Synchron secured $200 million in Series D financing led by Double Point Ventures and joined by giants like ARCH Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Bezos Expeditions, underscoring continued interest in neurotechnology and brain-computer interfaces.techstartups​

• MoEngage, a SaaS engagement platform, drew $100 million (late-stage), led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and A91 Partners, indicating ongoing appetite for marketing automation solutions.techstartups​

• Fomo, in the Social Proof segment, locked in $17 million Series A from Benchmark and 140+ prominent angels, evidencing the early-stage momentum for data-driven DTC tools.techstartups​

• Inception, an AI-focused startup, drew $50 million in a seed round from Menlo Ventures, Mayfield Fund, and major tech venture arms, putting early capital into next-gen enterprise AI.techstartups​

• MythWorx closed its $5 million debut round, signaling sustained innovation at the intersection of creator platforms and digital IP.techstartups​

• Reevo raised $80 million for AI-powered fintech expansion, reflecting continued acceleration in digital financial infrastructure.thesaasnews​

• Motley collected $1.5 million pre-seed, contributing to the wave of early-stage optimism and diversity in startup founding.thesaasnews​

• Portal26 (GenAI adoption) landed $9 million Series A led by Shasta Ventures, showing momentum in AI enterprise management.vcnewsdaily​

A broader VC perspective revealed that October’s global rounds totaled $31.11 billion, slightly dipping from $32.3 billion in September, but still tracking for a full-year net gain. KPMG’s Q3 ’25 research tallied $120.7 billion invested globally across 7,579 deals, the fourth straight quarter of robust funding acceleration, suggesting improving investor sentiment and more open exit windows.spglobal+2​

Private Equity Momentum

Deal value in private equity moved sharply upward this quarter. Q3 saw 2,347 closed or announced deals, aggregating $331.1 billion—up 28% quarter over quarter, driven by large-scale buyouts in healthcare, technology, and professional services.foley+1​

• Healthcare: Madison Dearborn Partners locked in a $2.7 billion majority stake in NFP Corp’s wealth business, extracting major platforms from Aon in a headline transaction.spglobal​

• Insurance and Distribution: Bain Capital took the reins of Jensten Group from Livingbridge EP LLP, reinforcing strategic expansion in financial services.spglobal​

• Accounting, Services, and Consulting:

  • BDO USA completed its merger with Horne LLP, expanding national footprint and capacity.cpatrendlines​

  • Wipfli LLP and Grant Thornton continued PE-driven growth via targeted acquisitions of mid-market competitors and regional BPO specialists.cpatrendlines​

  • EisnerAmper and Aprio made high-profile moves in legal, financial, and transaction advisory verticals, deepening capabilities for private clients.cpatrendlines​

Secondary market activity approached $60 billion in Q3, on pace for $210 billion annualized—a historic volume, according to Ropes & Gray, as limited partners seek new liquidity routes and managers rationalize portfolios in a turbulent global environment.ropesgray​

M&A and Notable Transactions

The week’s biggest headline was Charles Schwab’s acquisition of Forge Global, a deal valued at $660 million, designed to supercharge retail and advisor access to private company shares and expand liquidity options to a wider community of investors and issuers.napa-net+3​

• Forge’s marketplace, already the venue for over $17 billion in private company share transactions, will join Schwab’s $11.6 trillion client asset base, promising massive distribution and reach.finance.yahoo​

• The acquisition will deliver Forge stakeholders $45 per share in cash, pending regulatory and shareholder approval, and is expected to close by the first half of 2026.napa-net+1​

• Strategic implications: Schwab will integrate Forge’s platform with innovative interval funds, lower minimum investments, and private equity solutions aimed at individual, retail, and advisor clients fueling democratization of access in the private market economy.finance.yahoo+1​

Other M&A moves included consolidation across accounting, consulting, and insurance—with platforms expanding both geographical and vertical reach in private market spheres.cpatrendlines​

Sector Trends and Themes

• AI and Fintech remain the top draws for mega rounds and PE buyouts, with AI enterprise platforms, vertical SaaS, and digital financial infrastructure seeing the strongest investor support.thesaasnews+2​

• Healthcare buyouts dominated private equity volume, continuing a two-year trend in specialty care platforms, data and analytics, and BPO services.spglobal+1​

• Global VC funding up 38% YoY (per Crunchbase)—with especially strong growth in the US, Asia and Europe, and pronounced comeback in later-stage rounds, exit pipeline, and pre-IPO deals.natlawreview+1​

• Secondaries surge: More LP-led sales and GP-led restructuring, offering new liquidity amid persistent long-hold and late IPO cycles.ropesgray​

• Retail market access: Schwab’s Forge acquisition and similar moves from competitors put further pressure on private market incumbents to open distribution to accredited and near-accredited investor channels.finance.yahoo​

Next Week: What to Watch

• Schwab-Forge post-merger strategy: Expect regulatory responses and further detail on operational integration plans. There may be new products announced targeted at retail investors, such as interval funds and managed access to high-growth startup shares.pressroom.aboutschwab+2​

• Tech and AI Funding Rounds: Several large rounds are in the pipeline for next week; watch for announcements in enterprise AI, deeptech, and mobility.

• PE/VC allocation trends: Continued monitoring of sector rotation, as investors move away from frothy valuations and towards “value creation” in sustainable categories (healthcare, infrastructure, B2B, vertical SaaS).

• M&A Close Cycles: The Schwab-Forge transaction will push competitors to accelerate their own M&A timelines; expect responses from other large asset managers and trading platforms.

• Secondaries market flashpoints: As volume surges, potential regulatory commentaries on GP-led deals and fee disclosures may disrupt market rhythm.

• Private company exit activity: Watch for new IPO filings and direct listings as exit windows widen, aided by the rebound in public markets.

Data References

The report draws from real-time transaction monitoring and key sources including S&P Global Market Intelligence, KPMG Q3 ’25 Venture Pulse, TechStartups, FinTech Futures, Seedtable, VC News Daily, Crunchbase, Ernst & Young, Ropes & Gray, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, The SaaS News, Foley & Lardner, and sector-specific deal reports.fintechfutures+19​

Expect a more detailed, expanded sector-by-sector analysis and deal breakdown in the next edition as additional Q4 data emerges and the Schwab-Forge deal sets new standards for retail distribution in private markets.reuters+2​