Alternative Investing Report - July 15, 2025

*as of 7/14; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

The first half of 2025 was the strongest for global VC funding since 2022, representing a turnaround after a down year in 2024. Crunchbase puts the increase at 32% and S&P Global has it at 25%, but in any case the rise in activity is significant, even though funding did dip from Q1 to Q2. Most of the year-over-year boost has come from late-stage companies, while early-stage funding has been flat.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The resurgence of VC funding has been largely driven by massive funding rounds to AI companies, with nearly half of global funding going to the sector so far in 2025. While the overall numbers look good, it is not necessarily reflective of the ecosystem as a whole, as much of the capital is going to a select few companies, meaning most startups are still struggling to attract VC investment.

Elon Musk’s xAI is reportedly receiving a $2 billion investment from another Musk-led startup, SpaceX. Musk’s public company Tesla is also holding a shareholder vote on whether it should invest into xAI, something that Musk supports. However, rumors that xAI could merge with Tesla were shot down by Musk.

➨ TAKEAWAY: This type of comingling is par for the course for Musk, who often treats his companies like one massive interconnected business - something we covered in “Elon’s Empire” last month. xAI did merge with the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) earlier this year, and all Musk’s startups work together and share key leaders. Investors into one of his startups should consider that they are likely to get exposure in some way to the others, for better or for worse.

🪙 PUMP token debuts: The native token of the popular Solana memecoin generator Pump.fun officially launched on exchanges and saw significant trading volume. It immediately jumped in value by more than 50%, then quickly fell to 30% below its launch price and ended the day down around 15%.

💵 Blue Owl & Voya: The alternative asset manager Blue Owl is partnering with retirement giant Voya to offer private credit investment products for use in Voya’s retirement plans.

🏢 Warehouse vacancies rise: Despite steady demand, the vacancy rate for U.S. warehouses hit 7.1% in Q2, the highest level since 2014, due largely to the increase in new supply coming to the market.

🚀 Climate-focused PE funds: Despite a political environment not especially friendly to climate tech startups, climate PE funds are still attracting investment worldwide and global AUM is forecasted to grow for the rest of the decade. Join The Next Wave to talk energy.

🎨 Foundations art fair: Artsy’s virtual art fair launched yesterday and offers more than 1,000 works showcasing new artists with hundreds of pieces for under $2,500.

🤖 Harmonic.AI fundraise: The AI startup co-founded by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev raised $100 million at an $875 million valuation, nearly tripling its previous valuation.

Built in 1927, Villa Calafia, a 16-acre estate in Carpenteria, CA - a little over an hour north of Los Angeles - is on the market for the first time in more than 60 years. The property has a 4-bedroom main house as well as three guest houses, a tennis court, equestrian stables, covered parking for eight cars, and citrus and avocado groves. The property has some colorful history, as well - a previous owner in the 1940s apparently had an affair with an Italian mercenary who then held her captive at the estate. You can add your own chapter to that history if you can afford the $18.5 million asking price.