April 2025 proved to be an eventful month for the worldwide startup group.
On the one hand, information from The Financial Occasions prompt that offers had been down. Startups throughout early and late levels raised funds via 104 offers, in comparison with 116 within the year-ago interval. This was down 12% from 2023.
Different information means that international enterprise funding is basically flat yr over yr, following the newest April 2025 complete of $23 billion in complete international enterprise funding.
That is regardless of the record-breaking month in March, largely pushed by the one largest personal financing deal for OpenAI at $40 billion.
Whereas curiosity in AI has proven no indicators of slowing anytime quickly, it has been coupled with rising considerations concerning the environmental footprint of AI, due to its calls for on the ability grid and the water wanted to hold information facilities cool. This adopted remarks from Sam Altman, who highlighted that saying ‘please’ and ‘thanks’ when interacting with AI collectively provides as much as hundreds of thousands in prices.
Nonetheless, a report launched this month from the Worldwide Financial Fund discovered that financial positive factors outweigh the prices of rising carbon emissions, boosting international output by round 0.5% a yr between 2025 and 2030.
April additionally noticed curiosity in AI-generated code rise at a pointy fee. Microsoft’s CEO shared that up 30% of the corporate’s code is already made with AI throughout a hearth chat.
Regardless of the enduring buzz round AI, many industries are gaining floor by doubling down on use circumstances.
Telehealth has exploded prior to now a number of years, expedited by the COVID pandemic and many people not eager to do one thing in-person that we are able to do on a tool.
In the meantime, the world of pet tech well being has exploded alongside the charges of pet possession, led by organizations corresponding to Leap Enterprise Studio. Because the surge in new homeowners have a look at pet care another way to their predecessors, it’s fueling the pet care economic system, anticipated to develop from $380 billion to greater than $500 billion by 2030, as homeowners look to enhance the well being and wellbeing of their pets for longer, extra comfy lives.
As with mainstream healthcare, telehealth can also be retreating right here, as seen with California-based startup Airvet. The corporate raised an $11 million Sequence B-2 this month led by HighlandX.
With that, let’s check out a number of the trending startup tales from April in additional element.
USC Marshall/Greif Incubator strides ahead with occasions and competitions
The USC Incubator, led by Paul Orlando, shared its congratulations to the unbelievable work of its undergraduate staff who gained VCIC West and tied for 4th place globally on the 2025 Enterprise Capital Funding Competitors.
This was the primary time that undergraduate college students might take part within the competitors, but they punched above their weight and collective years of expertise. The startup incubator gave a particular shoutout to Carson Davis, Akshay Manglani, Henry Miller, Wednesday Satterlee, Vedant Kapoor, and Debra Erdenemandakh for his or her laborious work and grit.
The USC Incubator additionally hosted a mentor session this April that noticed consultants and founders from established international startups share their experiences with the present cohort.
International suppose tank Horasis to host climate-focused startup panel in São Paolo, Brazil
As the connection between tech and local weather change grows, Horasis has determined to sort out the elephant within the room.
Latin American and worldwide enterprises within the GreenTech area are set to shine because the Horasis International Assembly heads to São Paolo, Brazil. Horasis is an unbiased, international suppose tank that helps innovation in ways in which profit societal and financial objectives.
This April, it was introduced they may host a brand new session in Brazil to highlight climate-smart applied sciences, which is able to speed up the transition to inexperienced instruments and applied sciences. That is set to incorporate AI-driven industries revolutionizing productiveness and connectivity; nature-based options bridging ecology and economic system; and sustainable infrastructure constructing resilient, inclusive societies.
Confirmed audio system already embrace Eric Aguilar, Co-founder and Chief Government Officer, Omnitron Sensors, USA; Laura Mello de Andrea Constantini, Companion, Astella Investimentos, Brazil; Martin Dimitrov EMBA, Chief Government Officer, WealthLock, Bulgaria with extra to comply with on.
Leadsales CEO airs recommendation on funding for founders
Maintaining on the regional focus of Latin America, Crunchbase Information featured particular recommendation for founders primarily based within the space. Roberto Peñacastro, CEO of Leadsales, leads an progressive startup centered on offering a specialised CRM for WhatsApp and social media.
Within the featured article, he shared a broad overview of the present VC panorama within the area, the important thing boundaries to funding that startups right here face, and the ability of strategic partnerships.
AI startup Prezent welcomes biopharma govt Janet Dorling to Board
Prezent has an formidable roadmap to assist organizational productiveness by utilizing AI to sort out the challenges that stem from poor enterprise communication.
The AI platform for enterprise displays introduced that Janet Dorling, Senior VP at Gilead Sciences, has joined its Board of Administrators. Gilead Sciences is a worldwide biopharmaceutical firm devoted to advancing progressive therapies for severe ailments.
This marks a step ahead for the corporate and its potential to service the biopharmaceutical trade with tailor-made options.
Startup Aestro AI launches to remodel the debt restoration course of
Aestro AI is an Agentic Service as a Software program firm has just lately hit the market after launching at Emerge Americas, a premier know-how convention that befell in Miami.
The startup’s AI-driven platform empowers fintechs and group banks with an clever, automated, and cost-efficient answer for last-mile debt restoration to resolve the rising problem of hard-to-recover debt.
Throughout ongoing financial turbulence throughout all markets, mitigating danger is essential for practically ever sector. But fintechs and monetary establishments particularly are below undue stress stemming from non-performing loans, which negatively influence their steadiness sheets and lift the price of capital. Aestro AI is seeking to place itself because the go-to answer for this problem for fintechs and banks throughout the Americas.
GPU startup SQream names new CEO to spearhead AI Factories
As demand for AI grows, extra environment friendly methods of dealing with information and extracting insights might be key.
SQream, a pacesetter in GPU-accelerated huge information processing, introduced its formidable plans to change into the final word AI Manufacturing facility enabler, wherein enterprises rework huge information into AI-driven perception.
This comes with the appointment of recent CEO, Liam Galin, who will spearhead this new period together with his expertise main publicly-traded firms.
Startups carry English language expertise to kids in Latin America
In keeping with UNESCO, 44 million further lecturers might be wanted globally by 2030. In Latin America particularly, 3 million lecturers might be required. With fewer lecturers comes overcrowded school rooms, making topics that require one-on-one consideration, like language studying, even tougher.
Buddy.ai is on a mission to democratize entry to English tuition in Latin America because the world’s first voice-based AI tutor designed particularly for youths, in an interview with founder Ivan Crewkov.
Skystem founder Shagun Malhotra particulars energy of automated finance controls for enterprises
The important position of CFOs within the 2025 had been highlighted by Novobrief in an article exploring monetary change inside organizations.
Right here, Shagun Malhotra, Founder and CEO of Skystem, spoke about the advantages of automated accounting controls that assist monetary reporting, yr finish shut experiences, audit processes and extra to keep away from the complications that come from poorly managed methods and handbook finance processes.
Y Combinator startup DeepSource releases autonomous AI brokers
As AI-generated code turns into extra outstanding in each main software program suppliers and new startups, DevSecOps groups are preventing to take care of app safety and bugs in these enormous volumes of code.
DeepSource, a San Francisco-based unified DevSecOps platform for securing code, introduced in April the launch of three totally autonomous AI brokers to save lots of coders hours of labor by scanning and fixing code safety vulnerabilities.
In keeping with a press release from the group, the brand new AI Brokers observe key occasions, apply reasoning to optimize for his or her safety objectives, and autonomously take motion to proactively hold code bases safe.
Massive information enterprises increasing
Because the tech sector continues to develop in Latin America, Ecuador particularly is predicted to see its digital economic system develop by 18% yearly in welcome information.
Massive information and ML enterprise Supply Meridian is an organization lengthy on the forefront of change within the area and, with places of work within the US and Colombia, often tops the lists of greatest firms to work for within the Americas. This April, the corporate introduced the opening of a brand new workplace in Ecuador, the place it hopes to spice up the nation’s tech scene.
