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Summary
Funding for GenAI companies broke all records in 2025, with frontier foundation model makers seeing a large share of VC capital. Despite ongoing market worries about a potential AI bubble, the outlook for 2026 remains constructive.
Join us for our complimentary webinar on February 25th as market experts from S&P Global and Houlihan Lokey break down the latest funding totals for 2025, and assess what is ahead for GenAI funding, and GenAI in the consumer and enterprise spaces in 2026.
Speakers
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Iuri Struta
Editor, TMT
Iuri Struta is a Senior Research Associate at S&P Global Market Intelligence. He specializes in analyzing M&A activity within the technology sector, with a particular focus on fintech and artificial intelligence.
Prior to joining S&P Global in 2022, Iuri conducted research on shareholder activism at Insightia, where, among others, he led the research effort on activism vulnerability assessment. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in international business.
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Seth Shafer
Principal Research Analyst, Kagan
Seth Shafer is a Principal Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan. He leads streaming video coverage and oversees the group’s Consumer Insights surveys conducted in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Specific areas of research focus include subscription video and free, ad-supported video market sizing and tracking the broader consumer shift to digital entertainment. His research and commentary is frequently cited in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and Variety, and he has served as a panelist and speaker at a wide range of industry events. Seth has worked as a research analyst in the TMT sector for 25 years and joined Kagan in 2012. Prior to joining Kagan, he worked at Bwin AG and at Hoover’s Inc., a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet.
Houlihan Lokey
Ashish Patel
Managing Director
Dr Patel is a Managing Director in Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group, where he specialises in private capital markets transactions. He is responsible for delivering minority equity solutions, including growth capital and structured equity, for ambitious companies in a range of sectors. Dr Patel is based in the firm's London office.
Dr Patel has significant transactional experience in private capital markets, including fundraises for highgrowth technology companies in USA & EMEA. He has operated across a range of sectors, including healthcare, climate tech, deep tech, software, and consumer.
Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Dr Patel was a Managing Director and Head of Growth Capital Solutions at Deutsche Numis, part of Deutsche Bank Group. Before that, he had roles as a venture capital and growth equity investor, including leading EMEA deals for Optum Ventures, the investment arm of UnitedHealth Group. Before becoming a financier, Dr Patel was on the founding team of a digital health company that listed in New York.
Dr Patel has spent more than a decade as an operator, investor, and advisor to multiple high-growth companies. He began his career as an intensive care doctor in London.
Dr Patel holds an MA and a BM BCh (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) from the University of Oxford, and is Member of both the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the CFA Institute.
Moderator
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Zaneta Kucerova
Associate Director, D&R Business Development
Zaneta Kucerova is Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, where she leads business development for corporate solutions across the Technology and Consumer sectors. She brings over a decade of experience working with TMT corporates, advising clients on market trends, and aligning their workflows with S&P’s data and analytical capabilities.
Zaneta holds a degree from Goldsmiths, University of London, and has completed executive education programs at INSEAD and Imperial College Business School.
Questions?
Please contact us if you need more information or have trouble accessing the webinar.