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| The Daily Pitch |
| PE, VC and M&A |
| Your edge on global private capital markets |
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| Welcome back from the weekend. In today's Daily Pitch, we rank countries by their VC per capita, look at initial defense tech data and scope out which VCs are most committed to healthcare AI agents. |
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| 3 bellwether PE fundraises in 2026 |
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By Rod James, Sr. Private Equity Editor
Recent weeks have seen the launch of several funds considered leaders in their respective strategies, the success of which could reveal a great deal about the state of the private equity fundraising market in 2026.
TPG registered the fourth in its series of Rise impact funds, an investment strategy that has faced a political and regulatory onslaught in recent years.
Secondaries firm Lexington Partners has launched a follow-up to its $22.7 billion Fund X, operating in a market where dealmaking still outpaces fundraising, despite the eye-watering amounts of capital being raised. In Hong Kong, Hillhouse Investment Group has launched a follow-up to its record-breaking Fund V, facing a climate that has become more hazardous for foreign investors seeking exposure to China. |
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PE fundraising has been on a steady decline over the past three years, and 2025 offered little in the way of optimism. Globally, PE funds closed on $407.5 billion, behind pace of the $611.6 billion raised in full-year 2024, according to PitchBook data.
The number of funds to hold a final close has also dropped sharply. And 540 funds made it over the line, compared with 1,025 in 2024 and 1,680 in 2023.
The success of these funds, managed by firms considered leaders in their respective strategies, could set the stage for these strategies in the year ahead. |
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| Join the Crowe ExPErtise Webinar Series: Economic and Tax Updates for 2026 |
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Understanding the economic and tax landscape in early 2026 will be essential for private equity leaders aiming to protect performance and plan for long-term value creation. Join Crowe on Tuesday, Jan. 27, for a view of how current and emerging macroeconomic trends are expected to shape deal flow, operating conditions, and strategic decisions across the portfolio.
Specialists will examine leading economic indicators that could impact capital allocation and cost structures for the private equity industry. Then, they will discuss significant provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and how those changes will impact both fund-level entities and portfolio companies.
Register today to gain relevant insights into trends and regulations shaping the investment landscape.
This session is recommended for 1.0 hour of CPE credit. |
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• As the world gathers for the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, here are the 10 VC investors betting the most on the development of AI agents expected to transform healthcare services. View our list
• Our industry and tech analysts' latest First Look dataset is in for Q4, focusing on defense tech.
• Macquarie Group has raised the bar for its debut US direct lending fund, now aiming for $1 billion after holding a first close for the vehicle in November. Go deeper
• Andreessen Horowitz's $15 billion haul for a new set of funds is more than double the $7.2 billion it raised in 2024 for its prior group. Learn more
• Apollo Global Management is seeking a new head of Europe to replace Rob Seminara, who is stepping into a new, as yet unannounced, global role at the PE firm. Read more |
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| Surge in mega-deals vaults US to top of global VC per capita list |
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By Leah Hodgson, Deputy Editor, European Private Markets
The US has usurped Singapore as the country with the most VC dollars per capita, while Europe’s growing presence in the top 10 signals a more mature ecosystem.
While America has consistently been the largest VC market by sheer volume of deals, its large population has prevented it from ranking highest in VC per capita in previous years. However, the scale of capital deployed last year, especially in AI, has resulted in VC investment in 2025 reaching the equivalent of $104 per person, according to PitchBook data.
Last year, investment in the US reached a near all-time high of $355 billion, driven by mammoth deals such as ChatGPT maker OpenAI‘s $40 billion round in March and Anthropic‘s $15 billion November investment. |
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Singapore has dropped to second place on the list with $76 per person, not only because of America’s swelling deal sizes but also due to further declines in its own VC dealmaking. Total value reached $4.6 billion in 2025, about two-thirds of the amount for 2024. Last year, Asia struggled to gain momentum, especially with the backdrop of rising US-China tensions.
While not the most active region, Europe remains the most prominent, with six of the top 10 countries, up from five last year. Israel leads due to advancements in AI and quantum computing, which boosted deal value after two consecutive years of decline.
Finland also has a high amount of dollars per capita, replacing Sweden, which dropped off the top 10 list. The country has become one of the Nordic region’s leading VC hubs thanks to companies such as smart ring maker Oura and satellite startup ICEYE, both of which raised hundreds of millions of dollars last year.
The number of European countries on the list indicates a venture market that is becoming more diversified, instead of capital being concentrated in a few key hubs. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• Medium rare, robot? Ecommerce mogul Marc Lore's Wonder is leaning into automation to change restaurants in the way Amazon reshaped shopping. [Bloomberg]
• Strip out hiring in the healthcare and social assistance industries and the US economy lost jobs in 2025—an uncomfortable reality and a possible sign of recession. [Fortune]
• Welcome to the wacky world of factor ETFs, where T | | | | | | | |
