September VC funding hits $2.19B, reaching $8B for Q3

Crypto VC funding ended September with a total of $2.19B, with several notable rounds. Investment activity remains lower than average, as funds shift their focus to new projects. 

Crypto VC funding in September reached a total of $2.19B, on the back of several large-scale deals. Funding activity is lower than average, as investors reconsider their target companies. 

For the whole of Q3, VC funds raised over $8B for various projects, though the number was inflated by outliers. For most of 2025, seed rounds are declining, while strategic and undisclosed ad-hoc fundraising is growing. 

Funds no longer seek out hot new tokens, as the market remains oversaturated. Instead, funds prefer late-stage projects. Competition from DAT companies has also skewed fundraising. 

For September, Coinbase Ventures was the leading fund, involved in seven deals. Animoca Brands, a former leader, has diminished its investment footprint. 

The USA was the leading region for the past month, with over $700M in deals. Other VC rounds were international, mostly focusing on Southeast Asia and Europe. VC funds still focused on AI projects as the most promising venue, in addition to infrastructure and on-chain tools. 

VC funding points to market recovery

VC funding activity serves as a proxy for general market recovery. September’s levels were slightly higher than August, with $2B in deals. 

For the past month, the end result may include additional deals closed a few days later. The month also closed higher thanks to Kraken’s self-led round for $500M. The Helius Medical raise for a SOL treasury was also counted toward VC funding rounds. Other prominent rounds included Forward Capital and Inversion Capital for $26.5M. 

Some of the latest rounds did not have a retail component and were mostly handled by funds, with no public sale component. For retail opportunities, traders turned to the new wave of IDOs. 

IDO funding expansion raised value

Public funding remained robust, with 155 registered sales and raises. For September, IDO funds raised $6.77B, the second-best month for the year to date. 

The robust token sale trend hinges on platforms, which aggregate already interested users. For September, Ethereum saw 20 IDOs, with 26 raises on BNB Smart Chain, 18 on Base, and only four on Solana.

IDO sales make up over 77% of all raises, with a limited number of high-profile ICOs. The model has displaced VC funding plus public presale, as retail investors seek out projects specifically focusing on a fair public sale. 

Binance Wallet campaigns had the biggest returns to date, due to the token curation and targeted liquidity events. The Gate Launchpad and Mexc were in the second and third place, with returns of over 130%. 

The Gate launchpad remained the most diverse one, hosting the largest number of projects from different sectors.