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Venture capital is consolidating into larger, higher-conviction bets, with infrastructure projects leading the way, according to Outlier Ventures
By Jamie Crawley, AI Boost|Edited by Stephen Alpher
Aug 30, 2025, 6:00 p.m.
- Web3 startups raised $9.6 billion across 306 deals in the second quarter, marking one of the largest funding totals on record even as the number of rounds fell to its lowest level in two years.
- Series A fundraising staged a comeback, with the median round size climbing to $17.6 million, the highest in over two years, while seed rounds also rose to a median of $6.6 million.
- Infrastructure projects such as validator liquidity, rollups, and compute networks attracted the bulk of capital, with median round sizes ranging from $70 million to $112 million, far outpacing consumer-facing sectors.
Web3 startups raised $9.6 billion in venture funding during the second quarter of 2025, making it the second-largest quarter on record, even as the number of deals fell to multi-year lows, according to a new report by Outlier Ventures.
The research by the London-based venture capital firm could present a maturing market in which investors are putting more money into fewer projects.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The findings suggest that Web3 fundraising is evolving from hype-driven activity toward targeted, durability-focused investment, with investors favoring foundational infrastructure and proven teams over volume.
Only 306 deals were disclosed in the quarter, the lowest since mid-2023, but the median deal size rose across every stage. Outlier said this reflects a shift from broad, speculative investing to strategic, high-conviction allocations.
Series A funding, which had slowed sharply during the bear market, staged a comeback. The median Series A round grew to $17.6 million, with 27 deals totaling $420 million, the largest since 2022. Seed funding also picked up, with a median size of $6.6 million.
Token fundraising painted a split picture. Private token sales raised $410 million across just 15 deals—their strongest showing since 2021, while public token sales slumped 83% to $134 million, underscoring waning appetite for retail-focused offerings.
Sectors such as cryptocurrency infrastructure, mining and validation, and compute networks saw the largest rounds, with medians ranging between $70 million and $112 million. Consumer-facing sectors, such as marketplaces, trailed significantly.
“Capital is consolidating around the projects that can provide the rails for the next phase of adoption,” Outlier wrote, adding that infrastructure-first bets are viewed as “indispensable” to Web3’s long-term growth.
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
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