Alternative Investing Report - August 12, 2025

*as of 8/11; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

The ten startups that have received the most funding this year have combined to raise $81.3 billion, which accounts for 41% of all VC dollars deployed in the U.S. Eight of the ten companies are AI startups, as the sector has continued to dominate the VC world, accounting for 58% of all funding so far this year. Nearly two-thirds of all funding has come in rounds $500 million or larger, up from just 18% back in 2021.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The story of VC in 2025 has been mega funding rounds led by the same handful of VC firms going to the same startups, generally in the AI sector. Part of this concentration is because these blue-chip AI startups have big potential, and the industry seems poised to continue its massive growth in the near-term. Another part of it is that these companies are viewed as lower risk than earlier-stage smaller startups. However, this trend towards concentrated bets on companies in one industry is leading to a lack of diversification, which could make the sector riskier in the long-run.

In this episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discussed Klarna, the Swedish fintech startup, exploring its business model, revenue streams, competitive landscape, and future outlook as it approaches a potential IPO.

🪙 Bitcoin nears ATH: Buying demand from treasury companies pushed the price of Bitcoin above $122,000, near its all-time high, before falling back down towards the end of the day. Additionally, Ethereum topped $4,300 to reach its highest level since December 2021.

💵 Meta’s private credit deal: Blue Owl and Pacific Investment Management agreed to a $29 billion financing package for Meta’s new data center in Louisiana, in what could be the first deal of many with tech giants building AI infrastructure.

🤖 Video AI startups: As Netflix and Amazon start turning to Gen AI to create video content, startups Runway and Luma are both in talks for multi-billion dollar fundraising rounds.

🏀 Jersey thefts: A former Miami Heat security guard has been charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of game-used jerseys, selling more than 100 of them to online brokers. One was reportedly the 2013 Game 7 LeBron James NBA Finals jersey that sold for $3.7 million at Sotheby’s, which could call that sale into question.

🏢 Co-working growth slows: Q2 saw the amount of co-working space in the U.S. expand by just 0.3%, and the number of co-working locations fell by 1% as operators consolidated into fewer, larger spaces.

💵 Zombie funds: The ratio of PE investments to exits has grown from 2.6x last year to 3.14x this year, leading to investors becoming frustrated that their money is stuck in “zombie funds” that have no real hope of distributing money and exiting their deals.

A seaside mansion in the Southern California town of La Jolla is being sold in a Dutch auction, a unique format where the price drops in fixed intervals until a buyer is found. In this case, the price is starting at $12.985 million and will drop $250,000 every week until someone bites. The 11,000 square foot, 6 bedroom, 7 bathroom home includes a 180 bottle wine room, indoor bar, and a fully equipped gym. The property also has an infinity pool, basketball court and bocce ball courts. And with the price dropping $1 million a month, keep an eye out — it might fall into your price range.