The end of each year brings its fair share of ‘wrapping up’, and not just when it comes to Christmas presents. As we barrel towards the holidays, VC teams are often busy racing to close term sheets and squeeze in those last minute portfolio meetings. And, as we move ever closer to the end of the year, thoughts also turn to what the coming twelve months will bring.

Across Europe’s tech scene, 2024 was a complex year. The market picked up pace after a tough 18 months, although numbers and deal flow are still far lower than we saw in 2021–22. A huge swathe of the continent welcomed new governments, bringing opportunity and uncertainty in equal measure. And the impact and power of AI continued to touch all market sectors, completely re-writing the rules for how next-gen companies are shaped and scaled.

Against the backdrop of this momentum and flux, all signs point to a busy and interesting 2025 ahead for VCs and their portfolios. Here are some reflections from the Ada Ventures team and our esteemed network of venture partners, on what the year ahead might bring and the key trends we expect to emerge.

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The evolution of the VC firm

More venture funds will follow the ‘content creator’ model

We predict that the way VCs communicate to their audiences and market their theses will start to crystallise in 2025. Funds like 20VC and a16z sit at one end of the content-creation spectrum: media production powerhouses complete with podcasts, newsletters, and huge online presence. At the other end we have a number of firms with an almost invisible digital footprint. In 2025, we can expect to see more VCs making a conscious choice between the two, with less toe-dipping in between. Plenty will lean into content, but some may choose to go “off-grid” completely.

Others will seek new channels for their output. LinkedIn has long been the go-to platform for VC updates, deal announcements, and industry musings — and for good reason. It’s ideal for networking, learning from competitors, and keeping up-to-date with the latest trends. But, with over 1 billion members, some are struggling to cut through. Algorithm hacks and amplification strategies can only take us so far. If more funds follow the ‘content creator’ model, the channels for communication will have to evolve to keep pace.

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VCs will take the path to productisation

In 2025, we all think the market will see more VCs adding Head of Product to their ranks and developing proprietary tools that change the game for both investors and the startups they back. At Ada, we brought on our own Head of Product this year, Michael Tefula, who has hit the ground running, putting his software skills to work to sharpen our investment strategy and rethink how we support founders. His first innovation, AdaGPT, gives founders a free, accessible AI pitch deck review tool to refine their proposals before reaching out to investors. We’re thrilled with the response we’ve had so far, and predict that this product offering reflects a bigger shift happening across venture capital — one that will accelerate in 2025.

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Public money will step up its venture presence

Recent months have seen more and more conversation around the role of public funds in UK VC, driven by the new Labour Government’s indication that a bolder approach to investment is on the cards. This is something we believe could be a game-changer for the UK, with 2025 potentially bringing key steps forward.

A wider remit for public funds in venture holds huge promise for our ‘scale-up’ ambitions. 36% of the UK’s current unicorns received investment from British Business Bank supported funds — just think what could be achieved if more capital was unlocked.

Ada Venture Partner, Shanika Amarasekara MBE, predicts that 2025 will bring a rise in the role of pension funds as investors in illiquid assets, led by Australian and Canadian institutions who have been actively involved for years.

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Sector investment trends to watch

AI investment will be more disciplined

As 2025 dawns, gone will be the days of broad, unfocused AI bets. Our Venture Partner, Dorothy Chou, who is also Director of Policy & Public Engagement at Google DeepMind, believes the next year will see the end of “spray and pray” AI investments. Instead, she predicts the focus will shift to investment in targeted, problem-specific solutions. Product-market fit and discipline will become more crucial as venture capitalists move away from chasing a broad range of AI opportunities. Chou also believes that startups which focus on usability, especially non-technical users interacting with AI agents, will emerge as winners in this new era of more discerning investment.

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Health scanning goes mainstream

Neko Health’s first London clinic opening in September 2024 was a watershed moment for proactive health scanning. Whereas people have previously experimented with various tests for specific concerns (for example, getting fertility tests or 23&Me), Neko’s holistic health scans have been hugely popular. The waiting list is now over 60,000 people for the scans and this is just the start. Testing technologies are becoming cheaper, meaning it’s now possible for companies to integrate different ‘omics’ using biomarkers to assess stress levels, immune system weakness and early predictors of disease. These scans now come in at a relatively accessible price point which makes it feasible to have a yearly scan of this kind. We have already seen companies leveraging the increasing interest in personal health profiling and early scanning and we expect to see much more of this in 2025 and beyond.

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Proven potential will see life sciences prioritised

Ada Venture Partner, Alasdair Thong, who is also Founding Partner at Selvedge Venture, predicts that life sciences investments in 2025 will continue to focus on areas like inflammation, renal, and cardiovascular conditions, driven by the success of GLP-1 drugs and their proven potential for profitability despite lengthy development timelines. Companies developing precision biomarkers in these areas will also attract investment, thanks to their ability to reduce patient requirements and shorten pivotal clinical trial timelines. With lower licensing costs for assets in recent years, Thong also predicts more company creation, where many new ventures will stay in stealth for longer and won’t be shared around multiple VCs. These companies are likely to raise larger rounds, he says, often at later preclinical or clinical stages.

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The rise of AI “coaches”

In 2025, AI’s role as a personal companion will become a key area of focus for investors, says Ada’s Head of Product, Michael Tefula. In healthtech, for instance, Tefula predicts AI assistants that automatically track wellness — like analysing meals from photos, monitoring workouts or sleep quality via wearables, and offering tailored improvement tips — will be thrust into the spotlight. On the skills front, too, the appeal of AI-driven personalised tools will grow. Imagine a digital AI coach, he says, that you can consult to identify tailored upskilling opportunities and gain a personalised curriculum. These tools, which could pull in concepts like spaced repetition, multimodal learning, socratic questioning, and digital mentoring, would see users progress in a fraction of the time of traditional education and apprenticeship routes, making them a compelling investment opportunity for VCs.

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A year of refinement

2025 looks to be a year of refinement for venture capital — not just in how firms operate, but in where they choose to place their bets. From crystallising branding strategies and building proprietary tools, to diving deeper into precision tech and making more targeted bets, the trends speak to VCs working hard to zone in on the heart of their investment theses and establish themselves as leaders in their respective fields.

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