2025 fundraising was driven by mega fund closes. LPs of all sizes have also developed fresh appetite for infrastructure, while the mid-market everywhere is back in vogue.

Global infrastructure final closes reached USD 239.8bn in 2025, according to Infralogic data, a new record that exceeds the previous 2022 high of USD 171.32bn by 40%.

The total reflects final closes of closed-end, unlisted funds globally across the infrastructure, renewable energy, transition, and power and energy asset classes.

The growth in 2025 final close volumes was driven partly by bigger funds reaching the line rather than a surge in the number of closes.

“Some of the major funds had been in the market for up to three years,” said Gordon Bajnai, Campbell Lutyens’ global head of infrastructure and energy transition. “So, it’s probably two to three years of fundraising encapsulated in these numbers.”

But European focused funds and fund of funds vehicles, in particular, also contributed a larger share of volumes in 2025 than in the two preceding years.

This overall picture pointed to a general improvement in allocations commitments to infrastructure, said Bajnai, adding there has been a more positive attitude to infrastructure by the chief investment officers of LPs.

“These CIOs recognize that in private markets infrastructure is probably the most exciting sector next to private credit,” Bajnai said.

LPs view infrastructure as “fundamental” given the so-called global megatrends – demographic changes, digitalisation, energy, supply chain changes and defence/resilience – can all be accessed via infrastructure funds in a lower-risk way, he said.

The CIOs of LPs also “recognize that infrastructure is crisis-tested and that also it is inflation resilient overall looking across cycles”, he added.

The 2025 annual total was up 110% from USD 114.30bn in 2024 and up 93% from USD 124.11bn in 2023, underscoring the scale of the year-on-year rebound in headline volumes.

The record year was sealed by a heavy fourth quarter. Funds reaching final close raised USD 76.7bn in 4Q25 across 23 vehicles, making it the largest quarter of 2025 by capital raised.

4Q volumes were 35% higher than 3Q (USD 57bn), 111% higher than 2Q (USD 36.4bn), and 10% higher than 1Q1 (USD 69.8bn).

Also, the last quarter final close volumes rose 115% year-on-year from USD 35.7bn in 4Q24, but the number of funds closing rose only 10%, to 23 from 21.

The gap between capital growth and fund count shows the jump was driven mainly by larger funds closing, rather than a surge in the number of managers reaching final close. 4Q final closes included Brookfield Global Transition Fund II at USD 20bn and Ardian Infrastructure Fund VI at USD 13.5bn.

The same dynamic appears against 4Q23. 4Q25 raised only 6% less than the USD 81.58bn recorded in 4Q23, despite a 38% drop in the number of funds reaching final close, to 23 from 37.

Timelines stayed long, even as volumes surged

Despite the apparent acceleration in final close volumes, fundraising timelines remained elongated.

For funds with duration data available, the average fundraising period in 2025 was 29 months. That compares with roughly 30 months in 2024 and around 24 months in 2023.

That means average fundraising time in 2025 was 19% longer than in 2023, consistent with a market where large vehicles can still reach final close, but often only after extended processes.

Mega funds, global shifts

As in previous years, mega funds were the principal drivers of 2025 fundraising totals.

A total of 92 funds reached final close in 2025. That was up from 78 in 2024, an increase of 18%, and slightly above 90 in 2023, up 2%.

Even with more funds closing, a large share of capital was concentrated in a small number of large vehicles. The six funds that closed on USD 8bn or more raised USD 106.2bn, representing 44% of the USD 239.8bn raised in 2025, despite making up only 7% of the funds that closed (six out of 92).

European funds had a bumper year, doubling their haul year on year. Some 24 funds targeting Europe hit USD 53bn at final closes, about 22% of the full year’s capital. Of these, nine funds either exceeded targets or hit hard caps, among them Ardian‘s sixth flagship infrastructure fund which beat a EUR 10bn target.

In contrast, more European funds in 2024 hit close, a total of 28, albeit they raised less capital, some USD 20bn, about 17% of the total.

The bulk of the European funds that hit close last year were mid-market ones – and Campbell Lutyens’ Gordon Bajnai pointed to a growing appetite generally for this sector.

“Many LPs tell us they want more mid-market managers, particularly diversified ones in the USD 2bn to USD 8bn range,” he said.

This is partly driven as mid-market GPs are seen by many LPs to hold “more routes to exit” compared to larger funds, he added.

Smaller LPs are also attracted to mid-market managers as they are more likely to be able to find better access to co-investment and fee discounts in the funds than they would do if they deployed into larger fund, Bajnai said.

European funds attracted relatively more capital than in previous years as allocations have shifted from the US, said Benjamin Lohr, a Hong Kong-based partner at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. Investors that were previously focused on US GPs have become increasingly keen to build relationships with European GPs, he said.

Final close volumes were only slightly up YoY in the US, from USD 34bn in 2024 to USD 35.6bn last year.

Also, the size of funds in the US seems to have shrunk of late. In 2024, 17 funds raised USD 34bn; last year 25 funds raised USD 35.6bn. This is opposite to Europe where funds are getting bigger.

Industry sources linked the slower US fundraising in part to a gap in the mid-market, given the likes of Stonepeak and I Squared Capital, previously mid-market GPs, have now entered the large cap camp.

Asia lacking traction

The Asia market, meanwhile, was relatively lackluster last year. A total of eight funds collectively raised USD 5.4bn at final closes in 2025, the largest of which was Ares’ USD 2.4bn Japan DC Partners I.

The figures are dwarfed by those in 2024, which saw 12 Asian funds raising over USD 16bn. That was led by flagship regional closes such as KKR’s USD 6.4bn second APAC infrastructure fund and Stonepeak’s USD 3.3bn debut Asia fund.

“There’s only so much you can deploy in markets like Southeast Asia and, while Japan is better, it has a significant domestic capital base,” Lohr said.

Instead, Asia saw more outbound flows in 2025, as return-hungry investors from China and North Asia sought to deploy overseas, said Lohr. Asian capital was put to work into European infrastructure co-investments, while the Middle East may become a significant corridor for Asian deployment in 2026, he said.

However, Asian fundraising will likely continue to be relatively slow in 2026, owing to limited interest from overseas LPs, said Lohr.

“We do not expect an explosion of global capital coming into Asia this year, but a steady stream of commitments from dedicated LPs,” said Lohr.

In fairness, Asia Pacific has a relatively healthy pipeline of flagship final closes for 2026. Stonepeak‘s second regional fund (USD 4bn), QIC’s second global fund (USD 2bn), and Seraya Partners‘ second fund (USD 1.5bn) are among those due to close this year.

On an equity versus debt split, equity funds dominated 2025 for final close volumes. Equity-only vehicles accounted for USD 209.9bn across 71 funds, representing roughly 87% of the year’s total final close volume.

Debt-only funds closed USD 8.3bn across nine funds, equivalent to around 3% of 2025 volumes, up 60% from USD 5.2bn in 2024, but still 71% below USD 28.2bn in 2023.

In 2025, a further USD 7.7bn came from four funds tagged as mixed equity and debt, equivalent to 3.2% of annual volume, while USD 14bn across 8 funds was not tagged as either equity or debt, representing 5.8% of the total.

Alexander Chester, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, pointed to a shift in product design, with “a marked increase in sub-sector-specific funds”, moving away from generalist core and value-add strategies as the definition of infrastructure broadens and overlaps more with private equity and real estate.

Fund of funds activity rebounded

Fund of funds vehicles contributed a larger share of volumes in 2025 than in the two preceding years. Fund of funds final closes totalled USD 20.2bn across 12 vehicles in 2025, representing around 8% of annual volume.

That compares with USD 6.2bn across 6 fund of funds vehicles in 2024, meaning 2025 fund of funds volumes were up 225% year-on-year. Versus 2023, when fund of funds totalled USD 4.7bn across 10 vehicles, 2025 volumes were up 330%.

Chester said demand for liquidity is also shaping product structure. He pointed to “greater interest in semi-liquid and evergreen structures” from both GPs and LPs, adding that these formats are set to be among the most discussed topics in 2026.

Looking into 2026, the key question is whether 2025’s record volumes can be sustained without the same reliance on a small number of very large closes. With 44% of 2025 capital coming from six USD 8bn-plus funds and fundraising timelines still around 29 months, the data points to a market where headline totals can rise even as fundraising remains selective for a wider set of managers.

Concentration will remain a global feature of infrastructure fundraising during 2026, said Lohr, adding that it will remain tough for first-time managers.