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Global venture capital funding reached just over $22 billion in April 2024 — flat month over month and up a few percentage points year over year — Crunchbase data shows.
The slowdown in venture funding has continued despite the AI technology wave that has washed over startups in the past few years. READ MORE
In 2015, I stood at a crossroads in Silicon Valley, a place where the pursuit of venture capital was the yardstick of success. Faced with the choice of chasing after VC dollars or embracing the road less traveled of bootstrapping, I chose a path fueled by a desire for autonomy, profitability, and sustainable growth. This journey challenged the prevailing wisdom, pushing me to redefine what success in the tech world could look like. READ MORE
As global startup funding experiences a downturn, with Q1 2024 marking one of the lowest points since 2018, the landscape for entrepreneurs seeking investment has become increasingly challenging.
In these uncertain times, investors are placing greater emphasis on startups that offer tangible solutions to pressing societal and environmental issues. As a result, sustainable startups in this climate have a unique opportunity to shine by aligning their missions with the growing demand for impactful investments. READ MORE
Continuation funds are taking hold in venture capital.
Driving the news: Lightspeed Venture Partners has a term sheet from a lead investor and is hoping to wrap things up by July, while NEA is quietly working on its own vehicle, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Historically rare in venture capital, they've been getting more attention recently as firms look for new ways to navigate the market downturn and ongoing lack of liquidity.
The big picture: Continuation funds have been a staple of the private equity world, typically used to manage one or a few assets. READ MORE
Many in the venture capital and M&A worlds have predicted this year could see a return to more robust deal-making after a slow 2023.
There is good reason for some of that optimism — as valuations of venture-backed startups have slowly come down, the IPO market has reopened slightly, and strategic and private equity buyers are loaded with cash. READ MORE
Securing venture funding is an intricate dance of presentation, persuasion, and perception. It’s an art. As an experienced investor in AI, tech, and biotech startups, I’ve observed a pattern among the successful ventures I’ve backed.
These companies, each unique in their offerings, share four distinct traits that set them apart in the competition for venture capital. I offer you, today’s emerging entrepreneurs, a roadmap to both capture the attention of venture capitalists and forge strong, enduring partnerships that go beyond financial transactions. READ MORE
Michael Moritz made an unusual career change, from a successful journalist to the best venture capital investor in history. He was the first to identify startups that would change the world, from Google and Yahoo to YouTube and PayPal. In an exclusive interview, he talks about the Israeli mistakes that have helped Hamas control the October 7 narrative, the struggle on US campuses, and his predictions for the AI sector. READ MORE
What do entrepreneurs looking for private capital investment need to know in today’s economic climate? Procopio Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Joint Ventures co-leader Jason Femrite dove into that topic in a Q&A with Craig Dupper, Managing Partner of Elan Growth Partners LLC. They discussed the current private equity landscape, tailored growth strategies, and working capital optimization, while providing advice to company leaders looking to engage with a private equity investor. READ MORE
A global survey of PE executives shows that 60% are expecting deal activity to improve this year, a sharp rise from the 36% who felt the same a year ago. The S&P Global Market Intelligence report also found that optimism is strongest among smaller and mid-tier PE firms compared to larger peers.
There’s good news too for fundraising with just 15% of general partners feeling that things to be worse this year, one third of the percentage that said that last year. But venture capital professionals are concerned that limited partners may reduce their allocations, while 68% of these respondents expect deal activity to improve in 2024. READ MORE
The venture capital ecosystem faces a severe liquidity crunch. But although the IPO market shows new signs of life, startup investors should be looking to M&A this year to bring more capital back into the system.
That’s the view from Ryan Hinkle, managing director at New York-based startup investor Insight Partners, one of the most active investment firms in the bull run in private tech companies in 2021 and into the first half of 2022, when the firm announced its $20 billion fund, its largest to date. READ MORE
Hans Tung, a managing partner at Notable Capital, formerly GGV Capital, has a lot of thoughts on the state of venture capital today.
With $4.2 billion in assets under management, Notable evolved from 24-year-old cross-border VC firm GGV Capital, and Tung was around when GGV invested in the likes of Affirm, Airbnb, StockX, Square and Slack. READ MORE
Mining in orbit is getting closer to becoming a reality and, with business prospects protected by policy—at least in the US—one investor is predicting the dollars will start rolling in.
“My hot take is that there are too many investors sleeping on space tech because they are too risk averse,” said Katelin Holloway, a founding partner at 776 venture capital firm, which invested in both Astroforge and Interlune. “In order for this to work for you, you have to be confident enough to make a big bet. You have to be willing to trust that the rules and regulations will follow.” READ MORE
Millions of Americans tune into the popular tv show Shark Tank, to watch ambitious entrepreneurs pitch an investment opportunity to a panel of celebrity angel investors. And while entertaining and educational, the deal terms are notoriously harsh and far worse than what is standard for a typical venture capital (or, VC) investment. According to Yahoo Finance, the average Shark Tank investment per deal is just over $300,000, with average equity taken at 24.99%. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for start-ups with no product or market validation to raise what is called a “pre-seed round” of $2-3 million in venture capital, at a $6-8 million pre-money valuation, giving up around 15-20% of the business. READ MORE
Hope for a resurgence during 2024 in Venture Capital fundraising, investment, and returns was strong at the beginning of this year, with optimism fueled by the recovery in 2023 of U.S. stock markets (lead by the performance of large tech companies) and anticipation about how AI might transform industries. Market observers were optimistic then that U.S. venture investment activity would pick up significantly from 2023 levels, which—based on PitchBook data—had reverted to the lower average level of investment seen during the period of 2018-2020 as compared to the robust levels of activity seen in 2021 and the first half of 2022. This hope was centered in large part on expectations about how the Federal Reserve would begin lowering interest rates. READ MORE
The slowdown some predicted for AI funding did not play out in the first quarter.
Venture funding to AI-related startups actually increased in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023, Crunchbase data shows. The first quarter saw $12.2 billion invested in venture-backed AI startups in 1,166 deals. The dollar number represents a modest 4% uptick from last year’s final quarter, which saw $11.7 billion go to similar startups in 1,072 deals. READ MORE
The Federal Trade Commission’s final rule banning noncompete provisions in contracts will have broad implications for employers and employees in the labor and employment context. It will also impact businesses and their owners entering into sale transactions and any other transactions involving noncompetes. READ MORE
Conventional wisdom entering 2024 was that private equity dealmaking would surge on a series of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Fast forward: The prediction was right, but for the wrong reasons.
By the numbers: U.S. private equity activity is up 54% year-over-year, with nearly $132 billion of deal value, according to LSEG. READ MORE
The private equity industry is showing resilience and optimism for 2024 despite shifting market dynamics, according to the S&P Global Market Intelligence 2024 Private Equity and Venture Capital Outlook. According to the outlook, private equity executives are notably more optimistic about deal activity in 2024 with 60% expecting an improvement, compared to 34% last year. Survey respondents also showed increased interest in private credit and shared that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a larger role in deal sourcing and target selection.
"This year's survey revealed more optimism among both general partners (GPs) and investors as they are racing for a return to increased deal activity with increasing valuations allowing them to exit their backlog of investments and return cashflows to limited partners (LPs)," said Thomas Mercieca, associate director and lead author for the report, at S&P Global Market Intelligence. "There is also increased investor interest in private credit allocation, with 61% of LPs reporting that they will increase their asset allocation to the asset class in 2024. We are pleased to see that despite macroeconomic challenges still lingering, the industry remains adaptable and poised for growth throughout 2024." READ MORE
While some analysts might call the current state of the venture capital industry a winter, there is still a warm investment climate for startups and established businesses. Even if your business isn't on the same scale as OpenAI—setting the tone for the AI industry and securing a reported $10 billion funding round from Microsoft—the funding opportunities are still abundant.
At all times, investment firms and VCs have resources to support innovators and cutting-edge technological novelties. Based on what I'm seeing in the industry, they're now looking for businesses that show promise for predictable growth and liquidity and align with current VC trends. READ MORE
Thanks to online retailers and the magnetic draw of unlimited two-day shipping, convenience stores have never felt less convenient.
It felt like an overnight shift from our usual way of swinging by the drugstore to an easy press of the button (or set to auto-ship) to get us what we need as quickly as we need it. Before these online retailers rose to prominence, convenience was a term we held quite loosely. But suddenly we have discovered a new need and an entirely new meaning of convenience. READ MORE