US start-ups raise record $330bn as venture investors vie for stakes

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Investors poured a record $330bn into private start-ups in the US last year, nearly doubling the total from 2020 in a flurry of dealmaking that rapidly inflated company valuations. Venture capitalists vied with other deep-pocketed investors to win deals, giving leverage to the founders of attractive start-ups. Investors gained confidence from a wave of public listings that have delivered large returns to their backers, such as foundations and endowments. READ MORE

U.S. Venture Capital Shattered Records in 2021

The past year was record-breaking for U.S. venture capital. 

In 2021, U.S. investments in venture capital exceeded $300 billion for the first time, nearly doubling 2020’s $166.6 billion figure, according to an early look at PitchBook’s fourth quarter venture monitor. PitchBook analysts also noted an “exceptionally robust” year for VC mega-deals — deals valued at $100 million or more — which produced $190.8 billion in deal value.  READ MORE

Will DAOs Replace Crypto Venture Capital?

Decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, have recently formed to try to buy the U.S. Constitution and a professionally certified golf course.

Now they are organizing to deploy capital into cryptocurrency startup companies, potentially disrupting the venture capital funding model that has financed waves of new technologies for generations. READ MORE

Private Funds Should Prepare For More SEC Oversight In 2022

Growth in the private funds industry has been exponential in recent years and shows no sign of slowing down.

Industry experts estimate that investors pay private equity and hedge funds more than $250 billion a year in fees and expenses, which does not even account for additional ancillary fees from limited partners and portfolio companies. READ MORE

In 2021 it paid to stay private when the chips were down

For biotech in 2021 it paid to be private. While waning public investor sentiment made the year a minor disaster for listed companies, closely held groups enjoyed their most successful 12 months ever, with secured venture capital eclipsing 2020’s then record-breaking total by 26%. READ MORE

Global Venture Funding And Unicorn Creation In 2021 Shattered All Records

Venture funding in 2021 broke records across the board, Crunchbase data shows, with investment last year up more than 10x what it was a decade earlier.

Global venture investment last year totaled $643 billion, compared to $335 billion for 2020—marking 92 percent growth year over year. READ MORE

Here’s What Startups Are Doing To Extend Our Lifespans

If you’re reading this, it means you too have made it through another year. And, like the longevity-focused investors and entrepreneurs out there, you’re probably thinking about how healthier living can boost the odds of many more to come. READ MORE

Private equity's healthcare boom: 10 stats to know

COVID-19 has accelerated private equity's growth in healthcare.

Here are 10 stats to know: READ MORE

ESG is coming to venture capital. Here’s how startup founders can stay ahead of the curve

If you’re a startup founder who has raised venture capital (VC) funding or is looking to do so, you know that global VC funding hit USD 454 billion in the first three quarters of 2021, up from USD 332 billion in 2020 over the same period.

What’s interesting is that early-stage funding grew at 104% year-over-year in 2021 to peak at USD 49 billion. VC firms are therefore a critical force in shaping the future of people, planet, and society as they continue to invest in the leading companies and disruptive technologies of the future. READ MORE

Venture Capitalists See the End of the Pandemic… And Female Entrepreneurs are the Beneficiaries

In 2021, venture capitalists invested a record-shattering $5.6 billion in female-helmed businesses - an increase of $2 billion from the previous record of $3.6 billion set in 2019, before COVID officially hit the U.S. Clearly, VC's think it's time to start investing in companies again, especially women-led startups. READ MORE

Private Equity, Venture Capital Employee Compensation Up in 2021

Private equity and venture capital employee compensation is up in 2021 for the eighth straight year, according to the 2022 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report from Benchmark Compensation in Ann Arbor.

The percentage of respondents earning $150,000 and below has continued to decline and those earning from $151,000 to $1 million increased to 80 percent of respondents. This is the highest percentage of private equity and venture capital professionals reporting earnings more than $150,000 in annual compensation in the history of this report. READ MORE

Tech deals drive PE’s blockbuster year

Private-equity firms had a blockbuster year for deal making, largely driven by technology investments.

As of mid-December, private-equity firms had announced backing U.S. technology deals totaling $401.71bn, including new purchases, asset sales and add-on deals, according to data provider Dealogic. That accounted for 41% of a record $990.25bn in overall private-equity deals through mid-December, Dealogic said. READ MORE

What to watch for in the 2022 IPO market

After a rambunctious year for public listings, an evolving market now threatens to end the good times. Both SPACs and traditional IPOs have given underwhelming stock market performances, and inflation is leading to interest rate hikes that could weigh on valuations.

But there are still plenty of reasons to believe that PO activity will be strong in 2022. For starters, there's an abundance of IPO-ready companies thanks to a decade-long buildup of venture-backed startups. READ MORE

VC’s tweets about ‘woke’ tech diversity spark investor pushback

Last week, in response to someone who tweeted that VCs were racist, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale attributed disparities in venture capital investing to “average black culture.” READ MORE

Fintech Led VC Investment Last Year. Here’s What To Look For In 2022

Financial services was the leading sector for venture investment in 2021 with $134 billion invested, marking a whopping 177 percent year-over-year growth. That compares with overall global venture capital investment, which grew by a still astonishing 92 percent. READ MORE

The Year’s 10 Biggest VC Funding Rounds

In a year that shattered venture capital funding records, it should come as no surprise there were some hefty financing rounds to be had by startups. In fact, two companies that saw three of the top rounds of the year used the funding to ride them to the public market—electric car-maker Rivian and stock trading app Robinhood. READ MORE

As Crypto-Corns And Venture Dollars Flood The Digital Asset Landscape, What Will The Industry Do For A 2022 Encore?

While crypto certainly wasn’t new last year, it did enjoy a record-breaking 2021 in terms of newly minted unicorns and venture dollars invested into the space.

Venture funding in the crypto space hit more than $21 billion in 2021, far surpassing the $3.7 billion invested in 2020, according to Crunchbase numbers. That level of funding also helped birth more than 30 new unicorns—companies valued at $1 billion or more—last year in the industry, about three quarters of all unicorns created in crypto. READ MORE

Truly Terrible Performers Multiply Among Startups Taking SPAC Route To Market

The overwhelming majority of venture-backed companies that went public via special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, this year are trading far below their former highs. The list of truly terrible performers, meanwhile, has expanded in recent months as selloffs accelerate. READ MORE

Department of Labor Changes Its Tone for Private Equity Under 401(k) Plans

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") on December 21, 2021 issued a supplement (the “2021 Supplement”) to a June 2020 Information Letter (the "2020 Information Letter") that had addressed the possible use of private equity ("PE") investments in investment options offered under participant-directed individual-account retirement plans ("Plans"), such as "401(k)" plans, that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). READ MORE