AI Seed Funding Hit $283M as Average Rounds Reached $6.1M in June

June 2025 Seed & Pre-Seed Funding Pulse: What Founders Need to Know

Seed and pre-seed investing used to mean scrappy checks for small teams with promise, but June 2025 shows just how much the early-stage game has changed. Whether you’re building a high-flying AI startup or a capital-hungry EV company, the path to that first institutional check—or the next one—is less predictable, more crowded, and, yes, potentially a lot more lucrative.

The Hot Hand: Where and What Investors Are Betting On

If you’re mapping your next move, know this: most early capital last month landed in North America, with U.S. startups scooping up over half the global pie. California still leads, but mega-rounds in New York, Seattle, and even places like Florida and Texas are moving the center of gravity. Looking east? China wasn’t far behind on total capital—thanks to enormous deals in automotive and semiconductors, making the industry averages soar.

Sectors? AI makes everything else look sleepy: $283M deployed across 81 seed rounds—far outpacing any other category. Notable AI standouts drew the eyes (and checkbooks) of top investors in San Francisco, New York, London, and Tokyo. Health Care and Financial Services also attracted steady flows, while biotech, deep tech, and even semiconductors each produced their own “mega-seed” rounds.

Mega-Rounds & the New Seed Math

Gone are the days of $500K seed norms—the average round hit $6.1M, but that’s skewed by a handful of outliers like Thinking Machines Lab ($2B seed!), Cavan Auto ($167.5M), and Coreview ($83.5M). The median round is still $2M. Most startups landed checks in the $1-5M range, with “Super Seed” rounds—over $10M—becoming the new bragging right.

It’s not just about first-timers: 54% of rounds were companies raising their first institutional seed, but a healthy 46% were “follow-on” rounds—founders raising seed extensions to stay scrappy longer, sometimes well past what used to be a Series A.

Who’s Writing Checks? Syndicates Rule

FasterCapital, Alumni Ventures, Y Combinator, and Hesham Zreik were the most active at pre-seed, each with a unique tilt (AI, SaaS, FinTech, etc). Alumni Ventures punched above its weight, syndicating into nearly $48M worth of rounds. Most deals—over 80%—were syndicated, not solo. That means founders should plan for more group conversations, diverse diligence, and carefully managing investor dynamics.

Syndicated rounds were typically 15x larger than those with a solo backer—lean into the collective approach if you’re aiming high.

Market Timing: Announcements & Velocity

Want to catch investors’ attention? Mid-month saw the most action, with surges around June 17-18 and again in the final days. Deals clustered in those windows, perhaps a reflection of internal VC pacing or founders hurrying to close quarters.

The Takeaway for Founders

• Be bold on check size—but real about medians: Yes, $167M seed rounds exist, but the “normal” is still $2M.
• AI’s a magnet, but vertical strength can win: AI led the pack; deep tech and medtech still produced standout deals.
• Get syndicate-ready: Multiple investors are now the norm; build relationships early.
• Timing matters: Mid and late month are the hotspots for announcements.
• Geography’s broadening: U.S. remains dominant, but China’s strategic bet on larger deals makes Asia a player; Europe shows promise in AI and FinTech hubs.

TL;DR: June 2025 Founder Funding Cheat Sheet

• Seed capital raised: $776.6M across 429 rounds
• Top region: North America (54% of capital)
• Top city: San Francisco ($105M in 13 deals)
• Top country: U.S. ($400M), China ($189M), U.K. ($36M)
• Top industry: Artificial Intelligence ($283M/81 deals)
• Average/median round: $6.1M / $2M
• Mega-seed rounds: Thinking Machines Lab ($2B), Cavan Auto, Coreview
• First-time seed rounds: 54% of deals; average $9.7M (inflated by mega-rounds)
• Follow-on seed rounds: 46%; median $2.5M
• Syndicated rounds: 80%; average size far higher than solo
• Most active pre-seed investors: FasterCapital, Alumni Ventures, Y Combinator
• Deal timing: Peaks mid-to-late month
• Investor sector focus: AI, SaaS, FinTech, Bio/HealthTech, Deep Tech