Financial data shows trust in AI potential
More than 1 in 3 venture debt dollars is going to AI startups in the US and Europe, with AI and ML startups receiving 38.4% of the $30 billion venture debt deal value of 2025, according to financial data firm PitchBook.
Data from market research firm IDC confirms that trust in the potential of AI continues to be strong. Investments in AI solutions and services will have a global cumulative impact of $22.3 trillion by 2030, representing approximately 3.7% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a recent forecast by IDC.
“Driven by soaring infrastructure costs and the pressure to sustain high valuations, the venture debt industry is coalescing around AI and ML companies as startups are seeking debt financing at earlier stages”, PitchBook says in an overview.
“As overall deal count continues to decline, AI is increasing its overall share, accounting for 21.8% of deal count in 2025. Last year AI startups ate up nearly 1 in 4 venture debt dollars, or 24.9%—$22.9 billion—and accounted for 18.9% of all deals.”
“The venture debt industry has been on a recent tear, lending a record $53.3 billion last year, up 94.5% from 2023. It’s been driven primarily by later-stage startups struggling to keep up with VCs’ growth expectations, and turning to debt to preserve their valuations.”
The report says that now, it’s earlier-stage AI companies facing a similar problem.
“There’s definitely more pressure for these companies to grow”, Bo Ren, managing director of early-stage startups at Silicon Valley Bank, told PitchBook.
Median pre-money valuations for AI companies continue to rise, according to PitchBook data. So far in 2025, overall median pre-money valuations have reached $25 million, up from $15 million in 2024.
The report says that some of the biggest venture debt transactions have been for companies using the capital to build out data centres and purchase more graphics processing units.
The report says that lenders’ willingness to lend more asset-based money to startups without steady revenue is also boosting dealmaking, mentioning the interest in chips for AI.
“But some lenders are sounding the alarm on this model, fearful that these chips could depreciate in their usefulness sooner rather than later.”
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