Archive for: Research

SEATTLE – U.S. venture capital activity was up across all phases of the ecosystem in the first half of the year, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, the authoritative quarterly report jointly produced by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association with support from Silicon Valley Bank.

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SEATTLE, January 14, 2021 – Though the past year had a lot of uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the US VC industry demonstrated its resilience and long-term mindset, achieving new records in total exit value, deal value and capital raised by VC funds, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, the authoritative quarterly report on venture capital activity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem jointly produced by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), with support from Silicon Valley Bank and Velocity Global. The US VC liquidity market exceeded expectations in 2020, with a group of massive IPOs driving exit value over 2019’s strong showing. 2020 seemed to mark an inflection point in determining other feasible options for startups looking to go public, most notably the soaring number of public listings of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) vehicles last year. On the dealmaking side, the earliest stages of venture were hit hard at the outset of the pandemic as sourcing, diligencing, and investing in these companies went fully online after years of leaning on in-person connections to close deals. While late-stage companies have been the strongest piece of the venture ecosystem in 2020, early stage activity rebounded over the second half of the year. Many in the industry assumed nontraditional investors would pull back from VC during the pandemic-induced crisis, but participation has only strengthened. The robust exit market from the past two years will continue to drive distributions back to LPs, reaffirming allocations to the strategy. VC fundraising activity remained a hallmark of strength in 2020 bolstered by public market liquidity from a strong IPO market, near-zero benchmark interest rates, and the large number of LPs underallocated to venture coming into the year.

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SEATTLE, July 14, 2020 – Despite external economic headwinds, venture capital (VC) fundraising activity exhibited strength in Q2 2020 while exit and dealmaking activity slowed due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, the authoritative quarterly report on venture capital activity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem jointly produced by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), with support from Silicon Valley Bank and Certent. The ten largest funds raised in the first half of the year made up over half of all VC fundraising value so far. Many of these funds likely began fundraising before the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic affected the markets, but closing such massive vehicles remains an impressive feat. Exit activity continued its pandemic-induced struggle during the second quarter, with exit count in 2020 tracking to be the lowest since 2011. With this significant reduction in the number of companies achieving liquidity for investors, there could be serious implications for the rest of the VC ecosystem in the coming years. On the dealmaking side, activity has decelerated rather significantly when looking at figures for the broader industry. However, late-stage financings have outpaced early-stage financings as companies took advantage of high capital availability and investors looked to protect their largest and best investments. While this phenomenon may simply be a COVID-related anomaly in the long term, the high activity at the late-stage is the culmination of many of the recent trends within the US VC industry.

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