Americas

The number of VC deals in the Americas dropped to a new multi-year low in Q3’25, continuing a trend of muted transaction activity. While some of the slowdown can be attributed to the seasonal lull in U.S. and Canadian dealmaking — as many investors step back during the summer months — it also reflects ongoing caution in the face of geopolitical, trade, and broader macroeconomic uncertainties.

Outside of the AI mega-rounds that dominated headlines, many VC investors in the region shifted their focus toward startups demonstrating profitability or a clear, near-term path to it. This more selective approach has led to fewer transactions overall, but with larger deal sizes across stages. By the end of Q3, the annual median deal size had risen across pre-seed, early-stage, and late-stage rounds, suggesting that while investors remain cautious, they are willing to deploy meaningful capital into companies with stronger fundamentals.

Fintech attracted the largest share of interest from VC investors across much of Latin America during Q3’25, accounting for the largest VC deals in both Brazil (QI Tech — $313 million, Neon — $131 million) and Mexico (Kapital Bank — $100 million). In Brazil, ERP solution provider Omie also raised $157 million, underscoring growing investor interest in SaaS platforms supporting the region’s expanding SMB ecosystem.

In Mexico, the fintech space has continued to evolve and mature in recent quarters, with a number of growing fintechs looking to extend their service offerings beyond the credit card issuance space and into banking services. Given the lengthy process to obtain a new banking license in the country, many of these fintechs have targeted strategic acquisitions in order to obtain access to existing banking licenses. During Q3’25, for example, Mexico-based fintech Klar agreed to acquire digital bank Bineo from Grupo Financiaero Banorte.¹

VC investment in Canada gained momentum in Q3’25, supported by several high-profile raises, even as broader economic headwinds — including ongoing trade tensions with the U.S. — persisted. The standout was Cohere’s $600 million raise, which reinforced Canada’s position as a leading hub for AI model development.

Beyond Cohere, a diverse set of industry-focused AI and automation startups also attracted capital, highlighting the breadth of innovation across the Canadian ecosystem. Notable rounds included Blue J ($122 million), focused on AI-driven tax research; Geologic AI ($44 million), applying AI to mining exploration; and 4ag Robotics ($29 million), advancing robotics for agriculture.

Together, these transactions underscore that Canada’s VC market remains resilient and increasingly anchored by AI and automation, with investors backing both foundational technology players and specialized applications across traditional industries.

Artificial intelligence continued to be the primary engine of VC activity in the Americas during Q3’25, driving many of the region’s largest deals. In the U.S., beyond the blockbuster rounds by Anthropic ($13 billion), xAI ($10 billion), and Reflection AI ($1 billion), several high-growth AI companies also secured substantial funding. These included Perplexity AI ($600 million), advancing AI-powered search; Ramp ($514 million), leveraging AI to disrupt expense management in fintech; and Cognition AI ($400 million), focused on AI-enabled coding solutions.

AI also dominated Canada’s VC landscape in Q3. The largest raise was Cohere’s $600 million round, reinforcing its position as a global LLM leader, followed by Blue J ($122 million), an AI-driven tax research platform. The sector’s momentum is being amplified by growing government support, with Canadian policymakers increasingly focused on initiatives to retain top AI talent and scale domestic champions, ensuring that the country maintains a competitive edge in the global AI race.

Together, these developments highlight how AI is not only driving outsized deal activity in the Americas but also shaping national innovation strategies, underscoring its role as the defining growth theme for VC investors in the region.