TIME, in partnership with Statista, the leading global provider of market and consumer data and rankings, has published the first annual “America’s Top Venture Capital Firms” ranking. The result of this quantitative study: 350 firms at the forefront of the U.S. venture capital (VC) landscape, catalyzing innovation, supporting emerging startups, and driving the next generation of economic growth. Here’s how the winners were selected.
Methodology
The research project “America’s Top Venture Capital Firms 2025” is a comprehensive analysis conducted to identify the top-performing VC firms in the United States. To be considered, a firm must be headquartered in the United States and provide direct venture capital funding to companies and startups across various venture stages and sectors as a core part of its business model. Firms whose investment activities are exclusively or predominantly focused on growth equity, private equity, fund-of-funds, venture debt or similar non-VC-focused strategies are not eligible. For the “America’s Top Venture Capital Firms 2025” ranking, only firms headquartered in the United States are eligible.
The ranking is based on a comprehensive evaluation of key financial and operational metrics across three core pillars: Fundraising Strength, Investment Capacity & Activity, and Exit & Fund Performance. Statista gathered and scrutinized data for over 10,000 firms through desk research, online application forms and collaborations with data and market intelligent companies.
The first dimension, Fundraising Strength, was measured by analyzing each firm’s total capital raised over the past five years and the most recent year, together with its fundraising momentum and efficiency to gauge its sustained ability to attract investors.
The second dimension, Investment Capacity & Activity, was evaluated using key metrics like available capital (dry powder), assets under management (AUM), and deal flow, examining both current investment potential and operational activity.
The third dimension, Exit & Fund Performance, was assessed based on the volume and efficiency of successful exits, captured through the exit-to-investment ratio and benchmarked fund returns, focusing on the quality and consistency of each firm’s track record.
Once the data was collected and evaluated, it was consolidated and weighted within a scoring model. The final score was calculated as follows: 35% x Fundraising Strength Score + 35% x Investment Capacity & Activity Score + 30% x Exit & Fund Performance score. The 350 companies with the highest scores were awarded as “America’s Top Venture Capital Firms 2025” by TIME and Statista.
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