AI & SaaS Captured Most of $128.5M Pre-Seed Surge in August

August 2025 Pre-Seed Funding Pulse: What Founders Really Need to Know

Another month, another wave of ambitious founders closing that first crucial check. But under the headline figures, what stories are investors really telling with their wallets, and what can you learn for your own next round? Here’s your founder-focused debrief, distilled straight from the data.

Pre-Seed Rounds: Big Numbers, Bigger Ambitions

Imagine a room with 156 early-stage founders, each just landed new capital to fuel their first or next leap. Collectively, they raised nearly $128.5 million last month. The median deal was a classic pre-seed $500K, but a handful of outliers pulled the average above $820K, showing an appetite for serious bets even at the earliest stage.

What Moves the Needle?

• AI and Software are Magnetic: Nearly two-thirds of all deals went to companies building AI, software, or both. AI alone attracted over $40M spread across a remarkable 48 rounds.
• Not Just Buzzwords: Startups with a focus on workflow automation, vertical-specific AI (think healthcare, finance, gaming), or sustainability grabbed significant attention. The common thread? Tech that drives tangible efficiency or solves real pain points.
• Emerging Hubs, Not Just Silicon Valley: London and San Francisco still dominate, but Munich and Copenhagen posted some of the largest average deal sizes. Meanwhile, Bengaluru and Riyadh stood out for deal volume, highlighting a more geographically diverse early-stage ecosystem.

The Investor Angle: Who’s Writing Checks (and How)?

• Active Generalists: Names like FasterCapital, Exel by Merak, and Norrsken Evolve surfaced repeatedly, with each backing 10 or more deals. Y Combinator remains a major pipeline for emerging talent.
• Syndicates > Solo: 58% of rounds had multiple investors at the table, a clear message that founders should prioritize building a syndicate for both capital and guidance.
• Who’s Leading Large Rounds: While generalist firms spray broad, the biggest checks came from niche outfits, Seven Seven Six led an $8.4M round for Palabra.ai, BITKRAFT Ventures powered gaming with a $5.4M lead, and Project A Ventures posted two $4.7M leads.

What Kind of Companies Are Winning?

• First-Time Funded: 85% of companies in the dataset were raising their very first institutional round, a true pre-seed moment.
• SaaS Is King, But Hardware Isn’t Dead: Most winners had SaaS or marketplace models, but hardware/AIoT and climate tech plays also landed outsized checks, especially when solving vertical B2B problems.
• A Minority Are Repeat Raisers: Some “pre-seed” rounds were actually follow-ons or aggregates, with about 15% reporting prior capital already on the books.

TL;DR – Pre-Seed Funding, August 2025

• $128.5M raised across 156 pre-seed rounds (median: $500K, average: $820K+)
• AI and software captured the majority of both capital and deal volume
• London and San Francisco remain top hubs; Munich, Copenhagen, Bengaluru, Riyadh are notable for deal size or volume
• FasterCapital, Exel by Merak, Norrsken Evolve most active; largest checks often from more specialized investors
• Syndicated rounds prevail, bring multiple investors to your cap table early
• Most founders are first-timers to institutional capital, but a minority are raising follow-ons or aggregate rounds
• Winning themes: Workflow automation, vertical-specific AI, sustainability/climate tech
• SaaS leads, but sectors from hardware to gaming to climate get big checks if the value prop is clear

What it means for you: To win pre-seed money, show how you’re solving real-world bottlenecks (with AI or not), target the right mix of investors (think syndicates), and don’t be afraid to pitch outside classic startup geographies, serious capital is looking for conviction everywhere.