August 28, 2025

Exit strategy

Hi there,

Here is this week's Hot or Not.

Hot: Big tech x AI unicorns

100 AI companies valued at $1B+ have emerged since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. 

Nvidia has backed nearly 1 in 4 of them (24).

Overall, big tech companies have invested in 36% of the list — placing strategic bets on their future customers, partners, and even potential future foes. 

Get an in-depth look at all 100 of them here. 

Lukewarm: Tech IPOs

The global tech IPO market remained muted during the first half of 2025, with 122 tech companies going public. 

That’s in line with the numbers from 2024.

But recent activity signals things may be picking up, with major IPOs this quarter like Figma and crypto exchange Bullish. 

Based on current trends, we project 84 tech IPOs for Q3’25 — above the 2-year quarterly average of 72.

Get the full rundown & our predictions in the free State of Tech Exits report.

Hot: India talent & users

Global tech leaders are establishing positions in India’s fast-growing AI sector.

This week, OpenAI announced plans to open its first office in India in the coming months. 

The country is also OpenAI’s second largest user market. 

Source: X

Other AI startups like Glean, Scale, and Databricks are rapidly growing their India-based teams, based on CB Insights headcount data. 

We dug into 3 trends fueling the rise of India’s AI sector here. 

Not: Entry-level coding jobs

Based on revenue, funding, and valuations, the coding AI market represents one of the most successful genAI application layers.

Even as vibe coding is showing some limits, the market is starting to hurt the young coders who would have filled those jobs.

That’s according to a fresh research paper by Stanford economists using payroll provider ADP’s records. 

The employee headcount of software developers aged 22 to 25 has shrunk 20% since its 2022 peak while older workers’ has increased.

Source: WSJ

The +1

Y-axis fail. So named cows produce just 3.4% more milk than unnamed cows? 

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal 

Co-Founder & Exec Chair

P.S. Uncover tech exit trends and what’s coming in H2 2025 with CB Insights analysts. Register here. 

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