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Startup Survival Guide: Essential Venture Capital Statistics

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Adam Hide
Adam Hide

EVP, Marketing

What’s the startup industry without some challenges? The 2023 venture capital landscape definitely proved this — challenging was an understatement. Reports show that dominant markets like the US saw record-breaking fundraising lows, which sounded the alarms for founders worldwide. However, this downturn was expected, as geopolitical tensions multiplied and interest rates soared. What’s in store for the rest of 2024 according to last year’s numbers? Let’s take a look at 100 statistics that summarize the state of the startup world today.

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While the overall VC sector might be showing a slowdown in funding, it’s a pause, not a stop. There are still positive signs: a slight uptick in funding from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024 and continued investor interest in specific sectors like healthcare and AI. This suggests a shift towards strategic investments in sectors with strong growth potential and therefore is an opportunity for startups with a clear path to profitability.

Seed-Stage Funding Statistics

3,850 deals

Global Seed and Angel deals have been steadily declining for a year, with 3,850 deals in Q1 2024 compared to 6,276 in Q1 2023.

Over 53%

Over 53% of US pre-seed deals went to startups outside hub markets (Bay Area, New York, LA and Boston).

Fell by 33%

Deal count fell by 33% at the seed stage in Q1 2024.

Pioneer Fund, Y Combinator and Elevate Ventures were the most active investors in pre-seed and Seed rounds in Q1 2024 with 51, 20 and 20 rounds led respectively.

$100 million

The biggest Seed round in Q1 2024 was Alys Pharmaceuticals with $100 million from Medicxi Ventures.

Most seed unicorns

UK investor LocalGlobe funded the most seed unicorns in 2023 in the EMEA region with 13 startups.

Preferred investment instrument

SAFEs were the preferred investment instrument for all rounds under $3 million in Q1 2024.

$364.9 million

In Q2 2024, pre-seed rounds fundraised $364.9 million while seed rounds received $3.1 billion. These are slight decreases from $547.1 million and 3.8 billion in Q1.

Early-Stage Statistics

$29 billion

Despite the overall funding dip in 2024, early-stage funding grew by 6% YoY with over $29 billion invested.

Most post-seed funding rounds

Andreessen Horowitz participated in the most post-seed funding rounds in Q1 2024, investing in 27 rounds. Y Combinator and General Catalyst complete the top three.

36% of early-stage deals

36% of early-stage deals in Q1 2024 took place in the US, with Asia closely behind with 32%.

Sequoia Capital, Accel and Andreessen Horowitz led the most Series A funding rounds in 2023 with 90, 75 and 58 respectively.

$1.5 billion

Moonshot AI led the highest Series B round in Q1 2024 with $1.5 billion from Alibaba Cloud, HongShan, Meituan and other investors. - CB Insights

Late-Stage Statistics

AI valuation was $40 million

AI startups continue to take the cake in 2024. In Q1 2024, the industry median late-stage AI valuation was $40 million, dethroning fintech and SaaS.

Most late-stage deals

The most late-stage deals in Q1 2024 took place in Asia, with 36% in that region.

130% increase

Carta Series C startups raised $4.6 billion in new capital in Q1 2024, a 130% increase from Q4 2023. The median primary Series C valuation was $195.7 million, up 48% from the prior quarter.

Late-stage and growth deals increased from 487 to 517 QoQ in Q1 2024, but total investment decreased slightly from $31.1 billion to $29.5 billion.

Over 75% of the share

Over 75% of the share of late-stage VC deal value in Q1 2024 went to startups located in the Bay Area, New York, LA and Boston.

Fell to 9%

Late-stage deal percentage fell to 9% in Q1 2024, behind early- and mid-stage deals.

Increased by 10 rounds

Series D rounds in Q1 2024 fell from 35 to 23 QoQ. However, this is still a positive change as they increased by 10 rounds YoY.

Raised $23.1 billion

In Q2 2024, late-stage mega-rounds (between $100-$250 million) fundraised $12.3 billion, while mega-plus rounds (over $250 million) raised $23.1 billion.

$439.2 million to $212.1 million

Series D valuations had a stark decrease in Q1 2024, as they went from $439.2 million to $212.1 million QoQ.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statistics

Signed Senate Bill 54 into law

In October 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 54 into law, requiring VC firms to report on the diversity of the founding members of businesses they invest in.

US raised 0.48% of all VC funding

Black founders in the US raised 0.48% of all VC funding allocated last year. That's around $661 million out of $136 billion, the lowest amount in recent history.

Four black-founded funds raised capital in 2023

The bear market is impacting black fund managers as only four black-founded funds raised capital in 2023, compared to 13 in 2022 and 13 in 2021.

First Close Partners has been awarded the National Venture Capital Association's 2024 DEI Impact Award. This award acknowledges individuals, organizations, or firms significantly contributing to advancing DEI within the venture ecosystem. First Close Partners invests in venture capital funds owned and led by underrepresented managers worldwide.

Women-founded startups

Women-founded startups accounted for 2% or less of VC funding invested in Europe and the US in 2023.

20.7% of total US VC funding

However, the share of female co-founded VC capital was the highest on record in 2023, at 20.7% of total US VC funding.

$3.5 billion in 2023

Eighty-six women-led VC funds raised a combined total of $3.5 billion in 2023, around $500 million more than they raised in 2022.

€5.9 billion in European investment

In 2023, 1,007 female-founded companies received €5.9 billion in European investment.

Evenly split across investing roles

In 2023, research in LatAm showed that women and men were almost evenly split across investing roles—49.4% and 50.6%, respectively.

Global Venture Capital Statistics

€4 billion invested

The UK reigns supreme in Europe for VC funding in women-founded startups, with nearly €4 billion invested across 720 deals in 2023.

Leads globally for VC investment raised

So far, in 2024, the San Francisco Bay area leads globally for VC investment raised, followed by Beijing, New York, and London.

Surpassing $1.4 billion

VC investment in Canada showed robust growth, increasing from $976 million in Q3 2023 to surpassing $1.4 billion in Q4. - KPMG

VC funding in Asia tumbled to $17.3 billion in Q1, marking an 8% decline year-over-year and a 4% dip compared to Q4 2023. This is the lowest quarterly funding total for the region since Q4 2016.

31% decrease in volume

In Africa, the total raised amounted to $4.5 billion across 603 deals in 2023, marking a 31% decrease in volume and a 30% decrease in value compared to 2022.

VC investment fell globally

In 2023, it's no secret that VC investment fell globally. However, some African and MENA ecosystems bucked the trend, including Morocco, Cameroon, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

Leading sectors for funding

Financial services, healthcare, and energy were leading sectors for funding in Europe.

Down almost 20%

Although VC activity in Brazil dropped significantly in Q4 2023, with deal numbers down almost 20% compared to Q3, the total investment amount remained relatively stable. This is thanks to a significant funding round of $197 million secured by QI Tech, a company specializing in B2B enablement solutions.

Company raised $430 million

Monzo, a digital bank headquartered in London, secured the largest funding round in Europe during Q1. The company raised $430 million at a valuation of $5 billion, with Alphabet's growth fund, CapitalG, taking the lead.

China is currently experiencing a shift in its traditional investment partners. Foreign VC firms are backing out due to economic and political reasons, but Chinese domestic investors are taking their place. The biggest funders are now China's state-backed institutions and tech giants, who have participated in around 60 of the 100 largest deals from 2021 to June 2024, twice as many as from 2017 to 2020.

18% of global VC

Around 18% of global VC funding was allocated to European startups in Q1 2024, while North America represented just over 50%.

219 deals completed

In Q1 2024, two-thirds of VC investment — totaling $2.4 billion — flowed into UK businesses, with over half of the 219 deals completed by businesses based in London.

Sources

Pitchbook
KPMG
Dealroom
CB Insights
BCG
Crunchbase
TechCrunch
Ernst & Young
Carta
Cooley
RockHealth
Bloombberg NEF
Venturebeat

CNBC
PWC
Fintech Futures
Equties.com
The Guardian
NVCA
World Economic Forum
Venture Capital Journal
State of Gender Divercity
Divercity VC
AVCA
Globis Capital Partners
Yahoo Finance

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