Cooley – TheFundLawyer

Q3 2025 Venture Financing Report – Interview With Mark Spoto

Cooley — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 21:00:00 +0000

In conjunction with our Q3 2025 Venture Financing Report, we sat down with Mark Spoto of Razor’s Edge to get his take on the state of venture capital investing.

Key insights from Mark Spoto

On capital concentrating in fewer, later-stage ‘category winners’: The surge in invested capital in Series D rounds and beyond even as deal counts fell is clearly attributable to the growth in artificial intelligence-related companies. Investors are pouring large amounts into a small number of companies perceived to be category winners. A similar dynamic is playing out in the national security and dual-use technology marketplaces.

On the persistence of protective deal terms like pay to play: Pay-to-play provisions remain persistent as companies that raised at high valuations return to market without sufficient progress. In these new rounds of financing, the pay-to-play features are often used to enforce alignment among investors. This trend has not hit the national security and dual-use markets as pervasively, and it will likely be another 6 to 12 months before it will be felt.

On the ‘barbell’ investment pattern: There is significant interest at the earlier stage and growth/later stage in the defense and national security tech market. Series B rounds tend to be the hardest rounds to raise because companies need to show real progress against a business plan. This kind of progress can be tough to demonstrate, as it can be harder to prove in slow-moving government markets.

Read full commentary from Mark Spoto

Q2 2025 Venture Financing Report – Interview With Lily Lyman

Cooley — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 20:00:00 +0000

In conjunction with our Q2 2025 Venture Financing Report, we sat down with Lily Lyman of Underscore VC to get her take on the state of venture capital investing.

Key insights from Lily Lyman

On promising workflow automation trends: “The blend between services and software is increasingly merging, as the focus moves toward delivering the ‘work’ or ‘outcome’ to a customer versus just the ‘software to support doing the work.’”

On supporting early-stage founders during key inflection points: “The combination of empathy, candor and a strong community backing them is what makes those moments navigable – and ultimately, transformative.”

On the rebound in life sciences deal activity: “We are particularly excited about new opportunities emerging at the intersection of AI and life sciences, where machine learning can dramatically compress drug discovery, clinical trials and manufacturing timelines. The companies that win here won’t just generate insights, they’ll rewire entire workflows, accelerating science itself.”

Read full commentary from Lily Lyman

Q1 2025 Venture Financing Report – Interview With Jeff Crowe

Cooley — Thu, 22 May 2025 12:31:52 +0000

In conjunction with our Q1 2025 Venture Financing Report, we sat down with Jeff Crowe of Norwest to get his take on the state of venture capital investing.

Key insights from Jeff Crowe

On what differentiates an outstanding venture capital investor: “They have a nose for where technology is going, build deep expertise in their areas of focus, grow their personal networks continuously, and exhibit deep curiosity and a ton of hustle.”

On the role of venture capital firms in the next decade: “The rise of AI means that companies must move faster, and the increase in global volatility requires them to be more nimble as they build distribution networks, supply chains and development teams that cross borders. With their own global experience across hundreds of portfolio companies and networks of executives and advisors, venture firms can help portfolio companies do both – move faster and be more nimble.”

On key trends from this quarter’s VC data: “Without positive exits, venture investors are focusing more on supporting existing portfolio companies, exploring secondary sales to create liquidity and managing expectations with LPs. Investors have less time and less appetite to make new investments – at least until the exit landscape improves and restores their confidence.”

Read full commentary from Jeff Crowe

Q3 2024 Venture Financing Report – Interview With Asad Khaliq

Cooley — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 19:56:57 +0000

In conjunction with our Q3 2024 Venture Financing Report, we sat down with Asad Khaliq of Acrew Capital to get his take on the state of venture capital investing.

Key insights from Asad Khaliq

On the most exciting advancements in technology right now: “Cybersecurity is unique in that progress is driven not just by technological improvements, but also by threat actors … Another area we are very excited about is edge computing.”

On trends in market terms: “Venture deals have generally trended towards some degree of standardization over the past few years. That makes sense because the industry is maturing, and therefore best practices have become clearer. As capital availability has increased, many founders also find themselves with lots of options for capital, and some terms that may have previously been more common have fallen out of favor.”

On key advice to succeed in VC investing: “The venture and startup ecosystem can be noisy, and there are a lot of ups and downs. You have to, of course, keep updating your priors and learning from what’s happening around you. But balance that with conviction and execution on your chosen strategy. I think most new venture advisors don’t appreciate how quickly your ideas and networks compound in the industry.”

Read full commentary from Asad Khaliq