Why the AI Gold Rush Is a Green Light for Venture Studios

ai-drive merantix trends May 25, 2025

Midnight-to-teal gradient background with faint orbital lines. Centered bold white quote reads: “In 2025, 90% of AI adopters see positive ROI. Studios are in good position to lead.” Smaller tagline underneath: “Join the Venture Speed Circle.”

VCs just made it official: AI isn’t just part of the startup landscape - it is the landscape.

In Q1 2025, AI and machine learning startups got more than 57% of global venture funding, exceeding to $73 billion. This is impressive even if $40 billion of this was a funding round for OpenAI. But it’s not just a spike. It’s a structural shift. If numbers are not enough, look at how Google already integrated AI into their search engine.

^{(Source: Pitchbook)}

VCs have moved from asking “Do you use AI?” to “How is AI embedded in your business model?”
Corporate partners are asking for fewer pitch decks and more proof of automation.
Your EIRs are wondering if the old manual frameworks are still good enough.

Soon LP-s will ask how you can improve efficiency of your venture production processes with AI. And if you're not ready to answer, they'll look for a venture builder who can. For studios, this isn’t a moment to admire from the sidelines. It’s a call to move.

The Good News: Studios Are Built for This Shift

Let’s be honest. It is hard to decide if the shift to AI tools is just a hype, an empty promise, or the real deal. To find out, we should look at what customers of these AI tools are saying.

"...a near unanimous 97% of senior business leaders whose organization is investing in AI report positive ROI from their AI investments ... "

Back in 2018, Deloitte reported that 82% of early adopters were already seeing positive returns. Not pilots. Not proofs of concept. Actual results.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the signal is even stronger. EY’s Global AI Barometer claims that the number is well above 90%. The takeaway is simple:

Each quarter you wait, the bar moves higher. Startups with an AI-positive mindset aren’t just experimenting - they’re compounding. Their systems get sharper, their teams get faster, and it get harder to catch up to them.

The good news is that studios are idea to lead in this new era. Because studios aren’t just about launching startups faster. They’re about launching smarter. One venture after another. With system design. With repeatable workflows. With testable hypotheses. With an organization that learns and improves with each Discovery-Ideation-Validation-Build cycle.

Exactly the kind of approach AI-native startups demand.

The Tactical Deep Dive: Why This Is a Tailwind for Studios

We should celebrate and embrace the current VC-AI boom - for five good reasons.

1. Studios Can Build AI-Native by Default

Most traditional startups bolt on AI later. Studios have the rare opportunity to bake in AI from day zero—across product, ops, GTM, and culture.

That means:

Validating use cases where AI creates real edge, not just novelty
Designing MVPs that already include AI-driven components
Creating ventures where the founding DNA includes automation, not resistance

2. You Already Have the Stack and the Sprints

Studios work in cycles.
Ideation → Validation → Build → Spinoff.
That rhythm is a perfect container for structured AI experimentation.

With the right prompts and tool stack, each cycle can compress time-to-market while improving quality.
AI becomes not just a feature—but a force multiplier for the studio model itself.

3. You Don’t Have to Guess Anymore

With VC appetite this strong, you don’t have to overthink LP alignment or investor readiness.
AI-native companies are now the default thesis for many funds.

If you're a studio trying to raise a fund or spin out newcos, you're no longer pushing a fringe agenda. You’re serving a hot, validated market - while bringing operational advantages most solo founders can't match.

4. Studios Solve the AI Skill Gap

Most people have now access, free access to advanced LLM models. Few know how to turn it into a system. Studios can provide AI-fluent infrastructure and human translation - bridging product teams with automation workflows, prompt libraries, and validation playbooks.

In a world where everyone has the same tools, the advantage is orchestration.
Studios already know how to orchestrate.

5. You Can Play the Portfolio Game Smarter

AI-native startups aren’t all created equal. Studios let you test across sectors (SaaS, fintech, HR, B2B infra) while building centralized knowledge. Every failed experiment becomes a reusable asset. Every winning thesis is a launchpad.

This lets you do what solo founders and VCs often can’t: compound the lessons, not just the capital.

A Real-World Signal: Merantix Was Early. You’re Right on Time.

Merantix is often held up as the AI studio success story. They moved early, raised €25M to go from AI agency to AI studio, then another €100M to back their portfolio. And now they run one of Europe’s top AI campuses and ecosystems.

But here’s the thing: they were the outlier.
Now? The market is ready for ten more Merantixes.

And if you're running a studio with:

Repeatable workflows
A small core team of builders
A thesis around automation, ops, or vertical SaaS

…you’re not just participating in the wave. You’re in the best position to drive it.

Your Strategic Comeback: Don’t Let This Pass

This is your moment to act on what you've been sensing for months.

You're not too late. But you won't get a clearer signal than this.

So ask yourself:

Have we mapped our AI leverage points across the studio?
Are we using the VC tailwind to reframe our thesis?
Do our next 3 ventures pass the “AI-native by design” test?

If the answer’s no, the time to act is now.

One Small Step You Can Take Today

Spin up a 1-hour working session with your studio leads. Title it:

“What If Every Newco We Built Was AI-Native by Default?”

Inside that session:

Pull up your last 3 validated ideas.
For each, list 2–3 ways AI could compress cycle time, automate learning, or create defensible UX.
Flag which ones have investor appetite right now based on current trends.

This one hour could recalibrate your whole Q3 roadmap.

VCs have voted. Now it’s time to design what they’ll invest in next.

Let’s build. And if you need the frameworks, tactics, playbooks to catch up:

👉 Join the Venture Speed Circle.