Venture capital investments in U.S. startups surged to $74.6 billion in Q4 2024, a significant rise from the previous nine-quarter average of $42 billion. Despite this impressive figure, funding remains concentrated among a few major players, with 43.2% of the total going to just five companies including Databricks and OpenAI. Analysts suggest that without these large deals, overall investment levels would mirror past trends. The disparity highlights ongoing challenges for smaller startups in accessing capital, raising questions about the sustainability of this investment surge in 2025.