Entrepreneurship and Startup News Globally in September 2025

A to Z Country wise Entrepreneurship and Startup stories

Argentina

Several early-stage fintech and agtech startups in Buenos Aires closed pre-seed/seed rounds; local VC interest increased modestly as Brazil deals signalled regional appetite.

Australia

Australian startups saw a surge in AI-driven climate tech funding, with Sydney-based CarbonTrack raising $12M in seed funding for carbon capture analytics. The ecosystem emphasized “green AI” at the Sydney Startup Week (Sept 15-20), where 50+ early-stage ventures pitched to investors.
The Lawpath New Business Index showed that in September Australia saw 105,783 new ABN (Australian Business Number) registrations — up ~21 % year-on-year — and 33,429 new company registrations — up ~17 % YoY.
Other Australian startups that raised major funding in September, including:

Firmus Technologies (raised ~A$330 million for building a large-scale AI data centre)
Nutromics (raised US$7.5 M in an acceleration round for its “lab-on-a-patch” wearable diagnostics)
Also, in the Northern Territory: the 4th annual Start‑up September launched in Darwin with 15 local businesses showcased and a pitch competition for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Australia is showing growth in registrations and substantive funding rounds — good sign for entrepreneurs thinking of entering that market. If you’re looking at Australia, sectors like AI/infrastructure, health wearables and local business support (especially in less-dense regions) are active.

Austria

Vienna ecosystem saw growth in B2B SaaS and climate-tech pilots; a few accelerator demo-days produced follow-on seed checks.

Bangladesh

Dhaka’s micro-SaaS and logistics startups showed stronger merchant traction; two fintech startups announced small strategic partnerships with payment processors.

Bahrain

Fintologya picked up $1 million for fintech infrastructure in September 2025.

Belgium

Belgian healthtech and deep-tech companies advanced to Series A rounds; corporate venture arms participated in a few cross-border deals.

Brazil

São Paulo saw notable AI / legal-tech and fintech rounds (including a sizable legal-AI round), and more Latin America-facing funds backing scaling startups.

Canada

Toronto and Montreal had strong AI and climate-tech deal activity; government innovation grants complemented private rounds.
Toronto-based fintech startup Wealthsimple expanded its crypto offerings, securing $150M in a Series E round led by Sequoia Capital Canada. The funding supports AI-powered wealth management tools amid a 20% YoY growth in Canadian fintech investments.
Toronto’s Cohere raised a large Series D funding, pushing its natural language processing technology to new markets.
Startup Ecosystem Data: Canada’s startup ecosystem remains in the global top tier, with an estimated 71 unicorn startups as of 2025.
The MaRS Discovery District launched a new accelerator for immigrant founders, selecting 15 startups for $500K in grants, highlighting Canada’s push for diverse entrepreneurship.

Chile

Santiago’s startup scene continued to yield agritech and mining-tech pilots; accelerators reported more international investor interest.

China

Local Chinese VC slowed in some consumer verticals; enterprise AI and robotics startups continued to attract strategic corporate backing (domestic focus).
Galactic Energy, a space-tech firm, raised $100M in Series C funding on Sept 28 for solid-fuel rocket development—one of China’s largest space investments this year. This reflects a 25% increase in deep-tech funding amid U.S.-China trade tensions.
AI Export Controls Impact: Reports from Shanghai noted a slowdown in AI hardware startups due to export restrictions, but 30+ ventures pivoted to domestic applications, with total Q3 funding hitting $6.5B (down YoY but resilient).
Unicorn Activity: Reports from September 2025 highlight a significant volume of successful startups, with the country possessing an estimated 438 unicorn companies, second only to the U.S.
Key Unicorn Update: The valuation of tech giant ByteDance was reportedly updated to $330 billion in September 2025.
Growth: China is noted for having one of the fastest growth rates in overall startup activity among the top global ecosystems.

Colombia

Bogota and Medellín saw growth in fintech and logistics pilots; a couple of Series A rounds from local investors closed.

Egypt

Cairo startups in fintech and edtech progressed with regional partner deals; Egyptian founders attracted cross-border interest from Gulf funds.

Finland

Helsinki’s deep-tech and cybersecurity startups reported follow-on funding and increased hiring for R&D teams.

France

Paris was highlighted by Mistral AI’s major funding and other AI/compute deals — France continued to lead Europe’s AI funding story.
Heetch: The Paris-headquartered ride-sharing app has been expanding, offering low commissions and targeting the late-night transportation niche.
France having one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems in Europe (36.1% year-over-year increase in activity).
The country maintains an estimated 60 unicorn startups.

Germany

Born (formerly Slay), a Berlin AI gaming startup, raised $15M in Series A on Sept 10 for “social” AI companions like virtual pets to combat loneliness. Backers include Accel and Tencent; total funding now $25M.
Industrial AI Trends: Munich’s robotics sector saw $80M invested across 10 startups, with Siemens-backed ventures leading in AI manufacturing automation.
Berlin and Munich remained active in enterprise SaaS and hardware-adjacent startups; several growth rounds closed in September.
Germany remains a top-five funded market globally, following the U.S., U.K., and India in the first nine months of 2025.
The country is home to an estimated 72 unicorn companies.

Ghana

Accra saw several seed rounds in fintech and micro-lending; local angel syndicates co-invested with pan-African funds.

Greece

Athens incubators produced a few tourism-tech pilots; a small number of seed rounds closed with EU grant support.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong continued to position itself as a fintech / wealthtech hub with a few international fundings and cross-border hires.

Hungary

Budapest’s developer tools and embedded-systems startups attracted early-stage investor attention and EU grants.

India

Strong month overall — India crossed roughly $1B in September (multiple notable rounds, more funds launched YTD). Sectors: AI, SaaS, fintech, healthtech.
The monthly report “30 Startups to Watch” by Inc42 highlighted dozens of Indian startups in September—covering deep-tech, SaaS, space tech, D2C etc.
Multiple Indian startups secured funding in September: e.g., Paar Autonomy raised a pre-seed round for its agentic AI + multi-sensor hardware for unmanned systems.
Additionally, the ecosystem is under some regulatory pressure: for example, the Reserve Bank of India ordered the BNPL firm Simpl to halt payments operations—highlighting compliance risks.
The Indian tech‐startup ecosystem raised US$7.7 billion in the first nine months of 2025, making India the third-most funded country globallybehind only the US and UK.
At the same time, funding is down ~23% year-on-year, seed stage is falling more sharply, indicating a matured but more selective ecosystem.
India’s startup ecosystem remains vibrant with diverse sectors and strong early-stage innovation. But the regulatory / compliance environment is tightening (especially fintech). If you are looking at India, focus on innovation plus regulatory roadmap, and choose sectors where you can scale and manage risk.
Global Rank: India jumped to the 3rd highest-funded tech startup market globally (behind the US and UK) for the first nine months of 2025.
Top Sectors: Enterprise Applications, Retail, and Transportation & Logistics Tech were the leading sectors driving investor confidence.
The ecosystem saw the creation of four new unicorns in the Jan-Sep 2025 period, increasing the total count to an estimated 117.

Indonesia

Jakarta’s logistics, embedded-payments and merchant tools raised notable rounds; Southeast Asia-focused VCs were active.

Ireland

Dublin’s fintech and cloud-SaaS startups secured growth rounds; corporates continued strategic investments and partnerships.

Israel

Tel-Aviv maintained strong healthtech, cybersecurity and AI investing; several exits / M&A discussions surfaced in September.
Gain, an Israeli deep-tech startup, emerged from stealth with $12M seed on Sept 29 for AI chip cooling. This caps a month where Israeli startups raised $300M+, defying regional challenges.
An estimated 119 unicorn companies, giving it one of the highest unicorn-to-GDP ratios globally.

Italy

Milan and Turin saw investments into industrial-AI and fashion-tech; national innovation grants supported prototype scaling.

Japan

Corporate VC units were active in robotics, mobility and deep-tech; a couple of late-seed rounds signalled steady local capital flows.
SoftBank-backed startups raised $200M collectively for humanoid robots, with Apptronik (Japan ops) securing $350M globally. Focus on eldercare AI amid aging population trends.

Kenya

Nairobi’s fintech & agri-marketplaces closed seed and pre-series A deals; regional investors co-funded larger tickets.

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur’s SaaS and payments startups had smaller strategic rounds; government startup programmes supported international pitching.

Mexico

Mexico City saw a handful of fintech and commerce platform seed rounds; LatAm investors continued to back scaling local founders.

Morocco

Casablanca reported early-stage activity in ecommerce and logistics tech with seed investors and small accelerators involved.

Netherlands

Amsterdam’s AI, cloud and data-infrastructure companies featured in September’s deal flow; several follow-on rounds closed.
Healthcare Innovation: ViCentra, a Dutch insulin patch pump startup, raised $85M Series D on Sept 5. The device mimics trendy wearables, targeting diabetes management; total funding now $150M+.
Amsterdam’s Green Tech: Nitricity broke ground on a $50M organic fertilizer plant, funded by Series B, emphasizing sustainable agriculture.

New Zealand

Wellington and Auckland startups in agtech and climate applied for export pilots; modest but targeted funding rounds closed.

Nigeria

Lagos continued to lead West Africa with fintech and logistics funding; a few sizable rounds supported pan-African expansion.
Koolboks, a cleantech startup revolutionizing cold storage with solar-powered freezers, secured $11 million in September 2025, with funds earmarked for expansion across Africa and establishing its first local assembly plant in Nigeria.
Kredete raised a $22 million Series A led by AfricInvest in September 2025, tackling credit access for African immigrants.

Norway

Oslo’s climate and energy-tech startups progressed with industrial pilots and VC follow-ons.

Oman

Rihal pulled in $7.5 million in September 2025 for its enterprise SaaS platform.

Pakistan

Karachi and Lahore saw early-stage fintech and edtech activity; a few diaspora investors participated in seed rounds.

Philippines

Manila startups in e-commerce enablers and logistics tech closed small growth rounds; corporate partnerships were the theme.

Poland

Warsaw’s developer tool and gaming startups closed seed/Series A rounds; EU programmes continued to boost R&D.

Portugal

Lisbon’s startup scene (tourism tech, fintech) attracted EU and private investor interest; accelerators ran demo days.
Infraspeak: Based in Porto, streamlining facility management through maintenance-tech and smart workflow solutions.

Romania

Bucharest had emerging SaaS startups close small seed checks; local angels remained active.

Russia (note: sanctions/regulatory caveats)

Domestic tech activity focused on solutions for local market needs; external fundraising remained limited due to geopolitical constraints.

Saudi Arabia

Part of the MENA megadeals — large fintech and platform deals dominated, with mega-rounds and sovereign-backed vehicles very active.
Saudi fintechs led the surge with Tamara’s $2.4 billion debt facility, Hala’s $157 million Series B, Lendo’s $50 million debt, and Erad’s $33 million debt financing.

Singapore

Singapore continued as a Southeast Asia hub — AI, fintech and enterprise software deals and regional HQ expansions were visible.
Singapore maintains its status as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems, with a notable growth rate of 49.4% in absolute startup output.

South Africa

Cape Town & Johannesburg led African deal activity in September — several growth rounds contributed to the continent’s rebound.
The Invigilator secured about $11 million (R195 million) in September 2025 for its AI-based remote proctoring software that works in low-bandwidth environments.

South Korea

Seoul’s fintech and consumer-AI startups had cross-border expansion plans (Australia and beyond). Corporate VC remained decisive.

Spain

Barcelona and Madrid saw mobility, healthtech and enterprise AI rounds; Spanish VC syndicates backed cross-border pilots.
Madrid-based Orbio raised €6.4 million in a seed round led by Visionaries Club in September 2025, developing an AI-native Human Capital Management platform.

Sweden

Stockholm’s climate-tech and AI startups raised follow-on funding; investor appetite for deeptech continued.

Switzerland

Zurich’s fintech and medtech companies closed strategic seed/Series A rounds; private banks showed partnership interest.

Taiwan

Taipei’s semiconductor-adjacent startups and automation companies worked on industrial pilots with local corporate partners.

Thailand

Bangkok startups in travel tech and merchant payments closed small funding rounds; regional investors monitored scaling signals.

Turkey

Istanbul had stronger interest in fintech and B2B SaaS; local investors co-led several early rounds.

UAE (Dubai / Abu Dhabi)

UAE was central to MENA’s record month — large rounds and regional hub expansions for fintech and marketplace startups.
WheelsOn, the UAE’s mobile-first car rental platform, closed on $12.5 million in September 2025, including $2.2 million in equity, $6.5 million for fleet expansion, and $4 million in local bank financing.

United Kingdom

London led Europe in deal activity in September; AI and cloud infrastructure megadeals helped push Europe’s record month.
The UK held the 2nd rank globally for the total amount of tech startup funding raised in the first nine months of 2025 (behind the U.S.).
The country has an estimated 183 unicorn companies.

United States

Ongoing AI, enterprise, biotech and fintech funding — dozens of rounds each week; September continued the steady flow of large and mid-size deals.
A U.S. startup MarqVision (Los Angeles) closed a US$48 million Series B in September for its AI brand-protection platform (detecting digital piracy/ counterfeits).
Also, the stable-coin infrastructure startup Bastion raised US$14.6 million (bringing total beyond $40 M) in September for its enterprise “Stablecoin-as-a-Service” platform.
Remains the undisputed global leader, generating 46.6% of all startup activity worldwide, and possessing an estimated 1,720 unicorn companies.
In the US, you see strong funding alongside enterprise/AI/fintech verticals. If you’re in the US (or targeting US investors) consider: enterprise SaaS + compliance/regulation + strong differentiation. Also, the context of regulatory scrutiny (esp in fintech/crypto) means you need to be prepared.

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City startups in logistics and local commerce platforms closed early growth rounds; regional investors showed selective interest.

Regional Stories in Entrepreneurship and Startup’s

Asia-Pacific

Asia startup funding rose 20% sequentially in Q3 2025, with investors putting $16.8 billion into seed- through growth-stage rounds, representing a 16% rise from the year-ago period.

Europe

European tech companies raised about €8.4 billion in September 2025 — up ~163% from August.
Top deals include: Mistral AI (Paris-based) securing €1.7 billion Series C, UK, Netherlands and Germany also active.
Europe is showing a strong surge in funding in September, especially in AI, cloud and fintech.
For European founders, this is an opportune time — but competition is fierce and sectors with strong tech (AI, cloud) are leading. Also, localisation and regional execution matte.

Latin America

In Latin America, one notable story: Enter (São Paulo, Brazil) raised US$35 million Series A (legal-AI startup) co-led by big US investors.
Also: Indicium (Brazil-founded data & AI consultancy) received an investment from Databricks Ventures, marking the first stake of that firm in a Latin American startup.
Latin America may be less headline-dominated than some other regions but interesting deals are happening especially in AI/legal tech in Brazil.
If you’re looking at Latin America, Brazil remains a strong market; look for high-value niche sectors (e.g., legal-AI) where global investors are showing interest.

Middle East & North Africa (MENA)

The region’s startups raised about US$3.5 billion in September 2025 across ~74 deals, a huge leap from ~US$337.5 million the previous month.
Saudi Arabia and UAE dominate: Saudi startups raised ~~US$2.7 billion, UAE ~US$704 million in September.
MENA is undergoing a sharp acceleration in startup funding, especially driven by fintech and mega-deals.
For entrepreneurs considering MENA, Saudi Arabia and UAE are the big hotspots. But also understand regulatory/commercial context (e.g., fintech, debt financing) and be ready for large deal sizes and prominence of mega-rounds.

Africa

African startups had a strong “funding comeback” in September 2025: they raised more than US$163 million in that month — a 430 % jump from August and ~29 % year-on-year.
Breakdown: South Africa led with ~US$65.5 m (5 deals), Nigeria ~US$40.6 m (5 deals), followed by Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania.
If you are considering Africa, this shows momentum. But note: many deals are growth-stage (vs very early). So entering may require good traction and investor readiness. Also local market dynamics and infrastructure may differ widely country by country.

Global Trends

AI Everywhere: 70% of funding tied to AI; trends include companions (Born), hiring (Findem), and drug discovery (Pathos). Global TVL in DeFi hit $170B.
Entrepreneurship Stats: GEM 2024/25 report: 1 in 8 working-age people entrepreneurial; Asia-Pacific grew 27.4% YoY. 33% of startups fail in 10 years, but service-based survive 2x longer.
Crypto/Blockchain: $15B FTX recoveries; Bhutan moved $107M BTC; new ETFs (Avalanche, Dogecoin).
Sustainability: Wetlands restoration sequesters millions of CO2 tons; EV market outlook strong.

Sources

ChatGPT

Grok

Gemini

Claude

Perplexity