Unstable stock prices. Stranded shipping containers. Consumers panic buying gadgets. Sluggish VC and private equity news and nearly-non-existent IPO market.
There are plenty of visible signs of 2025’s economic uncertainty. On again, off again tariff policies on global goods have left consumer product companies, retailers, and manufacturers scrambling to adapt their strategies and ultimately reassessing their financial outlooks. Federal grant funding pauses and DOGE-related cuts have forced research-heavy ventures to look for alternative funding sources or delay commercialization timelines.
As Emory Professor Tom Smith put it, there is just so much up in the air when it comes to governmental policy that it makes it “virtually impossible for companies to plan ahead.”
Tech startups are not immune from the uncertainty. Even those with fully digital products, remote workforces, and no inventory to manage are facing headwinds. That is particularly true for B2B SaaS companies serving enterprise clients. Because simply put: If their customers are doing business, they aren’t selling software to them.
“Many companies are not “pulling the trigger” on new spending until things have settled down a bit, and we don’t have visibility on when that will be,” said Karl Swensen of Atlanta-based Pull Logic, a tech startup that works with businesses selling high value finished goods from manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to the end consumer.
“Companies are taking a wait and see approach for now,” Swensen told Hypepotamus.
“Budgets are being scrutinized, and there’s a clear trend towards prioritizing investments with demonstrable ROI and tightening the belt on perceived “extras.” It’s less about stopping spending, and more about a smarter, sharper focus on solutions that are genuinely business-critical,” add Ted Tagalakis, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based SparkyAI.
The uncertainty isn’t just being felt for SaaS startups whose clients are large enterprises. Those that sell into government or educational institutions — or ones that support DEI initiatives within companies — are seeing delayed or stalled sales cycles as budgets get slashed, added North Carolina-based VC Timothy McLoughlin, Managing Partner at Cofounders Capital.
That is something Atlanta-based entrepreneur Kayla Life is seeing as well RebrandLand, her company that builds custom AI solutions for nonprofits.
“Even mission-driven orgs are moving slower because they’re being asked to “prove it” more than ever — prove the ROI, the sustainability, the outcomes. On top of that, we’re seeing the administration actively stripping funding from nonprofits for a lot of different reasons — political, ideological, or just budget cuts. It’s forcing organizations to be even more cautious about every dollar they spend.”
Is It All Doom And Gloom?
As a tech reporter, I’m hard pressed to think of a conversation I’ve had recently that didn’t include the word uncertainty. Political and macroeconomic shifts have paused investments or made it more difficult for companies to close deals with customers.
But as those in the startup world know, times of uncertainty can bring opportunity. Some of the investors and founders I talked to said that while business might be slow now, they see a chance to show how their products can help customers navigate macroeconomic uncertainty even better.
That includes Mike Landry, CEO of Atlanta-based ketteQ. The Series A supply chain planning startup works with customers across industries to help them proactively identify potential disruption and adjusting accordingly. The startup’s strength? Landry said it is helping customers deal with “what if?” scenario planning, which is important as macroeconomic shifts impact what the future might look like. Because as he reminded us, whether it is a pandemic, shortages of raw materials, or tariffs, “there is always another crisis” on the horizon when it comes to the global supply chain.
McLoughlin of Cofounders Capital also pointed to growth possibilities for software startups that can help customers improve their “operational efficiency” and “do more with less” as they are dealing with layoffs or hiring freezes.
For Life at RebrandLand, this time of uncertainty points to an opportunity to show how a tech solution can transform a customer’s business for the better.
“ROI is front and center. People want tech that isn’t just “nice to have” — it has to clearly save time, reduce stress, increase funding, or build trust with their stakeholders. Risk mitigation, cybersecurity, and internal efficiency are non-negotiables now,” she told Hypepotamus.
For Tagalakis at SparkyAI, 2025’s uncertainty gives his startup a chance to show how his MarTech solution can help companies create better, more compelling content and messages.
“Interestingly, this exact environment plays directly to SparkyAI!’s strengths. Because our platform is fundamentally designed to act as a workforce multiplier – boosting efficiency and unlocking insights teams couldn’t reach otherwise – it falls squarely into that ‘business-critical’ category,” he told Hypepotamus.