Happy Tuesday. AI is boosting healthtech startups, office vacancies hit a new record, someone moved $8 billion of Bitcoin, and a New Orleans theater is being auctioned. Let’s dive in!
🎫 Register: For our Pre-IPO briefing covering the $90 billion payments company Stripe - July 16 at 12 PM ET.
This issue is brought to you by Energea - Investing In Energy Infrastructure.
📈 DAILY MARKETS
*as of 7/7; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50
🚀 HEALTHTECH FUNDING
Healthtech startups raised $6.4 billion in the first half of 2025, a 7% year-over-year gain, with Q2 bringing in $3.4 billion, significantly higher than the average over the past two years. This jump came despite a 10% decline in deal count, leaving 2025 on pace to have the lowest overall deal count since 2020. AI-related startups were responsible for 62% of the funding, and raised nearly double the amount per round that non-AI related startups did. There were 11 fundraising rounds above $100 million, on pace to beat 2024’s total of 17, with 9 of the 11 deals going to AI-related startups.
➨ TAKEAWAY: The healthtech sector is undergoing similar trends to the overall VC world, with AI taking up the lion’s share of funding and higher average deal sizes making up for fewer overall deals. The rising prominence of AI is being felt across the startup landscape, and investors should be aware that the it not only encompasses pure-play companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic but startups across all industries.
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📺 UPCOMING EVENT
Wednesday July 16 at 12 PM ET, join Slava Rubin of Vincent and Marcelo Ballve of Sacra for a deep dive into Stripe, the global payments company last valued at $90 billion. They’ll explore Stripe’s revenue growth, product evolution, and position in an increasingly crowded and competitive payments market. Brought to you by HEALEY PRE-IPO.
🏢 OFFICE VACANCIES
The office vacancy rate in the U.S. continues to rise, and it hit 20.6% in Q2, setting a new all-time high for the sixth straight quarter. On the bright side, rents were up 0.3% nationally, with Birmingham, Palm Beach, and Miami seeing the biggest increases, while Nashville, Denver and Seattle saw the biggest decreases. Vacancy rates also rose slightly in the retail and industrial sectors, with multifamily staying steady.
➨ TAKEAWAY: The office sector never recovered from the pandemic and the rise of remote work, though it has been comparatively stable the past year and has seen a turnaround in some markets. With declining construction and rising conversions cutting into supply, the market could be heading for a broader reversal, but it remains a risky play for investors.
📰 NOTABLE NEWS
🪙 $8 billion Bitcoin transfer: An unknown person or entity moved 80,000 Bitcoin worth $8.6 billion from a wallet that had been untouched for 14 years, a remarkable show of patience. The transactions did set off alarm bells for traders, as it could indicate an intention to sell, and a sale of that size could push prices down, and some even voiced concerns it could actually be a massive hack.
📉 Global M&A activity declines: The total number of M&A deals worldwide in Q2 was the lowest figure since 2015, though the total deal value was steady due to a growing number of “megadeals” worth more than $10 billion.
🏡 Home purchase sentiment falls: Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index fell 5% in June, as mortgage rates remain high and economic uncertainty persists.
🤖 Lovable raise: The AI coding startup, whose product builds web apps from a text prompt, raised $150 million at a $2 billion valuation, just months after a much smaller $15 million funding round.
👑 Princess Diana auction: Julien’s auction of 325 lots that included 200 items belonging to the late Princess brought in more than $5 million, highlighted by a 1988 Bellville Sassoon floral day dress that sold for $520,000.
💵 Blackstone exploring secondaries: The alternative asset manager is reportedly looking into a new fund to buy private credit secondaries as more LPs in existing funds looking for liquidity offload stakes at discounts.
🏡 LISTING OF THE WEEK
(SVN Auctions)
The historic Carver Theatre in the famed Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans is heading to the auction block next week with a starting bid of $2 million. Originally opened in 1950, the 600-seat, 17,613 square-foot theater underwent an $8 million renovation in 2014 after being damaged in Hurricane Katrina. Along with the theater, the auction includes 15 adjacent lots that can be used for parking or future development. Bidding opens on July 17 and closes on July 23.
