Where US Tech Investment Is Growing the Most

The geography of innovation in America is changing, but not in the way you might think. Despite projections of doom for coastal tech bubbles like the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston, such regions are as important as ever when it comes to venture capital investment in high-tech startup companies. But the massive increase in VC funding has also enabled the growth of viable startup ecosystems straight across the US, especially in the middle of the country. READ MORE

Big VC Funds Are Underperforming Smaller Ones and Their Future Is Dim

Kevin Lalande, who founded two companies before attending business school, said he joined Austin Ventures in 2000 because it had a “better brand than any at the time” and was a great place to learn how to identify promising startups.

But the next year, Austin Ventures raised a $1.5 billion fund — only the sixth $1 billion-plus venture fund at the time. Lalande said that was a mistake, one that is still made today. It raised too much money and couldn’t keep up its performance, even with its respected brand and talent. READ MORE

San Francisco Bay Area’s venture capital-based economy is heading to court

This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments on the federal government’s attempt to block Microsoft from acquiring game developer Activision Blizzard. A lower California court already blocked the government’s challenge to the acquisition.

The appeals court’s decision will impact far more than video games or the stakeholders for this one case. If the Ninth Circuit rules against the lower court, the resulting precedent could have significant ramifications for venture capital investing and the San Francisco Bay Area’s economy. READ MORE

From Unicorns to Zombies: Tech Start-Ups Run Out of Time and Money

WeWork raised more than $11 billion in funding as a private company. Olive AI, a health care start-up, gathered $852 million. Convoy, a freight start-up, raised $900 million. And Veev, a home construction start-up, amassed $647 million.

In the last six weeks, they all filed for bankruptcy or shut down. They are the most recent failures in a tech start-up collapse that investors say is only beginning. READ MORE

Global Venture Funding In November Slows At Early Stage

Global venture funding reached $19.2 billion in November 2023, down marginally month over month, Crunchbase data shows. Funding fell around 16% from the $23 billion invested in November 2022, which was already down by two-thirds from November 2021. 

Early-stage funding declined the most year over year — falling 34% — an indication that venture investors continue to scale back even when investing in younger startups. Seed funding slowed more than 15%.  READ MORE

Why is cybersecurity venture funding so tepid despite the strong demand?

If you looked at venture capital investment trends in the cybersecurity market, you’d be excused for thinking that the sector was struggling.

Crunchbase data indicates that cybersecurity startups raised $1.9 billion in the third quarter, across 153 deals. The amount was better than the $1.7 billion startups in the sector raised in Q2 2023, but deal count declined from 181 deals. READ MORE

For Most Active Lead Investors, 2023 Has Delivered Few Exits

For the highest-spending startup backers, big exits tend to come in clusters. Investors rack up huge tallies in boom years, like 2021. In quiet years, like this one, few portfolio companies sell or go public at high valuations.

Just how quiet is exit activity in 2023? To get a sense, we looked at acquisitions and IPOs for companies backed by the most active and highest-spending lead investors of the past few years. We focused on five firms: Tiger Global Management, Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital and Insight Partners. READ MORE

Growth Marketing Metrics That Matter For Private Equity Firms

In the dynamic midmarket, decisions can significantly shape an investment's trajectory. As digital channels continue to expand, growth marketing has become an essential strategy that provides endless possibilities for companies. But which metrics truly matter?

To gain a greater understanding, let's dive further into the indicators and metrics that private equity firms must consistently track to effectively align with their objectives and key results (OKRs). READ MORE

VCs chow down more equity in recent financing rounds

There are many gloomy aspects to the venture downturn, but one of the positives for investors is that they can acquire larger stakes in companies.

When prices skyrocketed during the pandemic boom, VCs were so eager to invest in companies that those investors had no choice but to agree to a smaller ownership percentage. But valuations have decreased substantially since then, and the same check size can now buy VCs a larger portion. READ MORE

10 Myths About Venture Capital, Debunked

If you're trying to secure investment funding for your startup, it pays to have a better understanding of VCs. Whether it's thinking that investors can only offer financial support to your startup or that a strong business plan is all that's necessary to get funding, 10 startup founders share common misconceptions and myths about venture capital and how those misconceptions can be harmful to startups seeking funding. READ MORE

6 Strategies VC-Backed Startups Should Know To Win Awards And Get On Stage

Only some of my firm’s VC-backed startup clients take the time to submit themselves for awards or speaking engagements (or pay us to submit them). It’s understandable as many award and panel submissions require robust data, thoughtful and detailed responses, the time to travel to a speaking engagement, submission fees and so on. The upside of investing the time and attention for award and panel submissions, however, is that it contributes to what every founder we work with wants: top-tier media coverage for their venture-backed startup. READ MORE

Showing signs of a resurgence, pre-seed investment market defies broader downturn

A new report released today by early-stage venture capital fund Forum Ventures LLC has found a slight resurgence in the pre-seed investment market even as late-stage venture capital investments continue to grapple with a broader downturn.

The Forum Ventures’ second annual State of VC Market report was compiled by surveying 70 U.S. venture capital funds, including Outsiders Fund Management LLC, High Alpha Capital Management LLC, Outbound Capital Management LLC, Female Founders Fund LLC and Right Side Capital Management LLC. The survey was conducted over two weeks in early November and also collected data on 158 pre-seed rounds that closed in 2023. READ MORE

How private equity strategies are changing amid higher-for-longer rates

As changes in everything from technology and interest rates to sustainability concerns ripple through the corporate world, private equity will have advantages compared to public market investing when it comes to large-scale company transformation for the modern economy. However private equity’s playbook will likely be quite different than the past, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management. READ MORE

Venture capital’s 2023 bloodbath, by the numbers

After a shockingly successful 2021 and a mixed 2022, the party seems to have truly come to an end for startups and venture capitalists in 2023.

And while the doomsday economic scenarios many expected at the start of the year failed to materialize, the continued sense of malaise after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year and a less-than-rosy IPO market isn’t painting an optimistic picture for the months to come. READ MORE

VCs have a jargon problem and this is how to fix it

Over the eight years I’ve spent in VC, I’ve witnessed the consistently challenging vocabulary the industry creates. Venture capital is an industry full of big words, from technical acronyms to lofty descriptions. This often means we need to make more sense to founders, and that’s on us to use less jargon.

Historically, VCs are viewed as exclusive and cliquey, opposite from the “founder friendliness” that all VCs strive to have. While diversity and inclusion (D&I) has rightly become more of a focus across the ecosystem in recent years, the language we use needs to be noticed and still serves as a barrier to entry for founders. READ MORE