How venture capital is shaping up in 2023, in 4 charts (2024)

And just like that—venture capital funding has hit a new three-year low.

Startups around the globe raised a collective $58.6 billion in venture funding in the first quarter—dropping 13% from the last quarter and at their lowest levels since pre-pandemic, according to new data from CB Insights. In the U.S., numbers were a bit steadier, but only because of Stripe’s whopping $6.5 billion funding announcement in mid-March. International startups, in particular, are struggling to fundraise at the same levels they had been, with funding in Latin America, Asia, and Europe declining by 54%, 27%, and 12% respectively.

There were more than a dozen unicorns minted—13 to be exact—with four of them being A.I. developers. That’s fewer new unicorns than we’ve seen since the first quarter of 2017.

Here’s how venture capital is shaping up, in four charts:

How venture capital is shaping up in 2023, in 4 charts (1)

How venture capital is shaping up in 2023, in 4 charts (2)

How venture capital is shaping up in 2023, in 4 charts (3)

How venture capital is shaping up in 2023, in 4 charts (4)

See you tomorrow,

Jessica Mathews
Twitter: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com
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Jackson Fordyce curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Altruist, a Culver City, Calif.-based custodian for registered investment advisers, raised $112 million in Series D funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Adams Street Partners and others.

- Cybersyn, a New York-based data-as-a-service company, raised $62.9 million in Series A funding. Snowflake led the round and was joined by Coatue and Sequoia Capital.

- Recuro Health, a Dallas-based digital health solutions company, raised $47 million in Series B funding. ARCH Venture Partners, the Flippen Group, GPG Ventures, 4D Capital, and others invested in the round.

- 1upHealth, a Boston-based health care data platform, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Sixth Street Growth led the round and was joined by F-Prime Capital, Jackson Square Ventures, and Eniac Ventures.

- Tradier, a Charlotte-based retail brokerage firm, raised $24.6 million in Series B funding. PEAK6 Strategic Capital led the round and was joined by F-Prime Capital and KF Business Ventures.

- Hometree Group, a London-based home energy services company, raised $46 million in Series B funding co-led by Legal & General Capital, 2150, and Energy Impact Partners.

- Companion, a San Francisco-based interactive device for dogs, raised $6 million in additional funding from Lerer Hippeau and Digitalis Ventures.

- Ampersand, a San Francisco-based developer platform focused on SaaS interoperability, raised $4.7 million in seed funding. Matrix Partners led the round and was joined by Base Case Capital, Flex Capital, and 2.12 Angels.

- Kuberno, a London-based legal entity SaaS provider for corporate employees, raised £3.5 million ($4.37 million) in Series A funding from Nasdaq Ventures.

- NATIX, a Hamburg, Germany-based developer for crowd-sourced camera networks and event detection software, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Blockchange Ventures led the round and was joined by XYO, Mysterium Network, CVVC, Mulana Capital, Blockarm Capital, Techstars, Plug and Play Ventures, and CoinIX Capital.

- Hakbah, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based fintech savings platform, raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from Global Ventures and Aditum Investment Management.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Brookfield Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire Triton International, a Hamilton, Bermuda-based intermodal shipping containers company, for $4.7 billion.

- Lee Equity Partners and Twin Point Capital agreed to acquire Tessco Technologies, a Hunt Valley, Md.-based wireless communication products distributor, for about $161.4 million.

- Blue Point Capital Partners acquired eyebobs, a Minneapolis-based glasses company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- H.I.G. Capital acquired a majority stake in Office People, a Münster, Germany-based personnel management and temporary staffing company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Hunter Point Capital acquired a minority stake in Coller Capital, a London-based private capital secondaries market investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Quinbrook acquired PurposeEnergy, a Windham, N.H.-based biogas company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Sound Partners acquired Marathon, a Los Angeles-based residential HVAC company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Technical Safety Services, a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, acquired Precision Air Technology, a Morrisville, N.C.-based environment testing and certification services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

- Mitratech acquired Trakstar, a Seattle-based employee lifecycle platform, from Turn/River Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Numerix, backed by Genstar Capital, acquired FINCAD, a Vancouver-based derivatives risk management software and pricing analytics company, from Zaffin. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

- Emerson Electric agreed to acquire National Instruments, an Austin-based measurement systems maker. The deal is valued at $8.2 billion.

- InteleTravel acquired Hickory Global Partners, a Delray Beach, Fla.-based corporate travel company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

- MetaVC Partners, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, raised $62 million for a fund focused on early-stage, hard-tech metamaterials startup companies.

PEOPLE

- ICG, a London-based alternative asset manager, hired Ryan Croteau as managing director. Formerly, he was with Sun Life Capital Management.

- Macquarie Capital, the Sydney, Australia-based corporate advisory, capital markets, and investing arm of Macquarie Group, hired Morgan LeConey as managing director, head of U.S. consumer and retail. Formerly, he was with Nomura.

- One Rock Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, hired Monica Yavin as chief people officer. Formerly, she was with First Eagle Investment.

Correction, Apr. 13, 2023: A previous edition of this newsletter misstated Morgan LeConey’s gender. He is male.

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How venture capital is shaping up in 2023, in 4 charts (2024)

FAQs

What is the outlook for venture capital in 2023? ›

Ongoing uncertainty about the economy, projected interest rate hikes and the lingering aftermath of bank failures continue to weigh on the startup ecosystem. Venture capital (VC) investment in Q2 2023 dropped to $29.4 billion, down from $44.4 billion in Q1 2023, a decline of 34%.

What is the trend in venture capital in 2024? ›

While 2024 doesn't suggest a return to the record-breaking days of 2021, there are positive signs that venture capital activity is modestly picking up. Notable quarter-over-quarter improvements in fundraising, deal volume, and valuations appear to be ahead, indicating a shift in venture capital trends.

How is the venture capital industry changing? ›

Venture capital (VC) has undergone significant evolution in the last five years, with changes in investment trends, industry focus, and the emergence of new technologies. Investment Trends: Decline in Q2 2023: Venture capital investment declined by 34% in Q2 2023, dropping to $29.4 billion.

Is venture capital drying up? ›

Late-Stage Deal Activity Continues to Decline

For all 2023, $80.4 billion was invested in 4,305 deals, which was down from the $94 billion invested in 4,687 deals in 2022. The lack of progress, exit activity and high interest rates created problems both for investors and founders of late-stage VC-backed companies.

What is the outlook for venture capital? ›

Overall outlook. Heading into 2024, the conditions for raising venture capital will continue to be challenging. We expect we will see many companies compete to fundraise in 2024. There are a large number of companies in the pipeline that haven't raised since 2021 and will need to raise more capital.

What is the current state of venture capital? ›

Venture capital investment activity has been slowing down after the 2020/2021 hype years but still enjoys a continuous structural tailwind. In 2023, close to $315B was invested in tech companies globally. Access the leading funding rounds in 2023 that occured and new funding rounds in 2024.

What are the best months to raise venture capital? ›

There are two primetime Venture Capital raise deal windows, and they are early February until early July, and mid-September to the end of November.

What is the latest stage of venture capital financing? ›

The final stage of venture capital financing, the bridge stage is when companies have reached maturity. Funding obtained here is typically used to support activities like mergers, acquisitions, or IPOs. The bridge state is essentially a transition to the company being a full- fledged, viable business.

What is the life span of venture capital? ›

Venture capital funds typically have long tenures, beginning the first closing and running for 8-10 years.

What is the biggest challenge in venture capital? ›

Challenges of Venture Capital Markets

One of the main challenges is that it can be difficult to identify promising investment opportunities. Many early-stage companies fail, and it can be difficult to distinguish between those that are likely to succeed and those that are not.

Is venture capital slowing down? ›

Specifically, global startup investment in 2023 reached just $285 billion, marking a 38% decline year over year, down from the $462 billion invested in 2022. However, through a broader scope, overall funding in 2023 was down by less than 20% when compared to the pre-pandemic years of 2018 to 2020.

How do rising rates impact venture capital? ›

Higher interest rates have ripple effects on venture capital. First, investors' return expectations increase when they finance start-ups. Second, investors deploy less in venture capital and are more selective. As a result, investment activity has already started to decrease.

Does venture capital pay well in 2024? ›

As of Apr 17, 2024, the average annual pay for the Venture Capital jobs category in California is $94,634 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $45.50 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,819/week or $7,886/month.

What is the failure rate of venture capitalists? ›

The average venture capital firm receives more than 1,000 proposals per year. Approximately 30% of startups with venture backing end up failing. Around 75% of all fintech startups crash within two decades. Startups in the technology industry have the highest failure rate in the United States.

What is the failure rate of venture capital investment? ›

Most venture-backed startups, however, never reach either of these paths, or if they do it is in a state of distress. Approximately 75% of venture-backed startups fail – the number is difficult to measure, however, and by some estimates it is far greater.

Will 2023 be a good year for investors? ›

There are typically two outcomes as to what happens after an awful year like 2022—you get a bounce-back recovery, or the bad times continue. Luckily, 2023 was the former not the latter. Expected returns were higher and actual returns followed suit.

Is 2023 a good year for startups? ›

Though 2023 was a difficult year for tech start-ups, these firms increased their focus on business fundamentals, with nearly 60% of start-up founders reporting an increase in revenue and profitability in 2023, as per the Nasscom-Zinnov report.

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