In recent years, the bends and turns playing out across the venture capital landscape have been nothing short of head-spinning. That’s especially true if you’re an active participant in the startup investing space.
As a quick recap, VC was breaking records right and left as recently as 2021, with investments doubling year-over-year, fundraising eclipsing $100 billion for the first time, and a surge of nontraditional investors participating in VC transactions. By 2023, the pendulum had swung in the opposite direction, with global VC deal value 50% lower than 2021’s high water mark and the global exit value reaching just $225 billion.
Despite 2023’s turbulence, VC deal count in the US ended on a high note—and deal count is what we’re digging into in this article.
PitchBook tracks tens of thousands of VC firms, and here, we’re zooming in on global deal count—namely the most active VC investors in startups over the last five years by number of completed deals. These firms have experienced every high and low of the last half decade of developments in VC, and yet unlike so many others, they’re still getting deals done. Lots and lots of them.
Most active VC investors in startups by deal count (2018-present)
These 10 VC investors got the most startup deals done between 2018 and present, as of March 14, 2024. PitchBook Platform data is dynamic and subject to change often, with new deal data added daily. Note that the information below represents a snapshot in time and will become outdated as new deal data becomes available.
10. Sequoia Capital
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 980
📍Location: Menlo Park, California
🗓️ Year founded: 1972
Investment preferences: Sequoia Capital prefers to invest in early to growth stage companies in the information technology, healthcare, manufacturing, mobile, nanotechnology, financial service, internet, energy, media, and retail sectors.
Most recent VC deal: In March 2024, Sequoia Capital invested in the seed stage round of Sahara AI. Based on Grand Cayman Island, Sahara AI is building a decentralized AI network to transform how knowledge is owned, shared, and monetized. Led by Polychain Capital, the $6 million round included Sequoia Capital as one of 14 disclosed investors. (The #1 investor on this list also participated in this round.)
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,038
📍Location: Menlo Park, California
🗓️ Year founded: 2009
Investment preferences: Andreessen Horowitz primarily seeks to invest in sectors such as bio and healthcare, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, and in companies building toward American dynamism.
Most recent VC deal: Andreessen Horowitz recently participated in the Series E funding round of Bay Area-based Applied Intuition. Founded in 2017, the startup develops advanced simulation infrastructure software designed to safely develop, test, and deploy autonomous vehicles. Andreessen Horowitz is one 13 disclosed investors that participated in the $250 million round led by Porsche Ventures, Lux Capital, and angel investor Elad Gil—putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $5.75 billion.
8. Gaingels
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,075
📍Location: Burlington, Vermont
🗓️ Year founded: 2014
Investment preferences: Headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, Gaingels is a VC firm that invests in seed-to-growth/pre-IPO companies across the technology, B2B, healthcare, and consumer sectors. The firm focuses on investing in companies with LGBTQ+ leaders and that embrace diversity and inclusion.
Most recent VC deal: In March 2024, Gaingels invested in the Series B and Series B1 venture funding round of Anyplace. Headquartered in San Francisco, Anyplace is the developer of an apartment rental services platform that provides easy access to comfortable workspaces. Gaingels is one of 20 disclosed investors that participated in the $12.15 million round, funded through a combination of equity and debt and led by LAUNCH Fund.
7. HongShan
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,089
📍Location: Beijing, China
🗓️ Year founded: 2005
Investment preferences: Also known as Sequoia Capital China, HongShan invests in agriculture, distribution, B2B, education, retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, and tech.
Most recent VC deal: Most recently, HongShan invested in London-based Monzo, a fintech platform designed to help spend, save, and manage money in one place. Led by GV and CapitalG, the $429.45 million later-stage VC round included HongShan as one of six investors—putting the startup’s pre-money valuation at $4.62 billion.
6. SOSV
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,162
📍Location: Princeton, New Jersey
🗓️ Year founded: 1995
Investment preferences: SOSV is a VC firm that runs accelerator programs and provides seed, venture, and growth-stage follow-on investments to its companies. SOSV prefers to invest in manufacturing, life sciences, healthtech, internet of things, robotics, fintech, food, AI, and other sectors.
Most recent VC deal: In February 2024, SOSV invested in the pre-seed VC funding round of Samphire Neuroscience. The London-based startup is building wearable neurotechnology medical device solutions for women’s health and lifestyle needs. More specifically, Samphire Neurosciences’ headband uses non-invasive electrical neuromodulation to stimulate parts of the brain and alleviate symptoms associated with menstrual cycles. SOSV is one of ten firms that participated in the $2.3 million pre-seed round.
5. Antler
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,197
📍Location: Singapore
🗓️ Year founded: 2017
Investment preferences: Based in Singapore, Antler is a VC firm that invests in the tech sector.
Most recent VC deal: Most recently, Antler invested in an early-stage venture funding round of Evaluable AI. Also headquartered in Singapore, Evaluable AI is the developer of a Large Language Models (LLM) evaluation and improvement platform. Antler was the only participating investor in the deal, and the deal amount has not been disclosed.
4. FJ Labs
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,229
📍Location: New York, New York
🗓️ Year founded: 2015
Investment preferences: FJ Labs is a venture capital investment firm that seeks to invest in all VC stages—across all industries and geographies.
Most recent VC deal: In March 2024, FJ Labs invested in the seed round of Sonarverse. Founded in 2022 and based in Irvine, California, Sonarverse is the developer of a web3 data source and analytics platform that delivers crypto insights through tailored product offerings for institutions, retail, and apps. FJ Labs is one of eight firms that participated in the $7 million deal led by BlockTower Capital.
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,353
📍Location: Dublin, Ireland
🗓️ Year founded: 1998
Investment preferences: Enterprise Ireland is an economic development agency that helps Irish enterprises start, grow, innovate, and win export sales on global markets. The company’s VC firm is based in Dublin and invests in Irish companies.
Most recent VC deal: In March 2024, Enterprise Ireland invested in the seed round of Legitify. Also headquartered in Dublin, Legitfy is an online notarization platform designed to notarize documents online remotely anytime. Enterprise Ireland is one of four firms that participated in the $1.62 million round led by Verb Ventures.
2. 500 Global
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,408
📍Location: San Francisco, California
🗓️ Year founded: 2010
Investment preferences: Formerly called 500 Startups, 500 Global is an accelerator and VC firm that focuses on minority seed, early-stage, and later-stage investments in startups across a range of industries and geographies.
Most recent VC deal: Most recently, 500 Global invested in the seed round of Clify. Based in Seoul, South Korea, Clify is a B2B mental healthcare platform targeting the demand for psychological counseling from B2B customers. 500 Global was the only other participant in the $.90 million round led by Dunamu & Partners.
🤝 Deal count (2018-present): 1,561
📍Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
🗓️ Year founded: 2014
Investment preferences: Alumni Ventures is a VC firm whose fund families invest in a portfolio of diversified companies across sector, stage, and region.
Most recent VC deal: Alumni Ventures invested in CarbonCapture in March 2024. The startup, headquartered in Pasadena, California, manufactures air capture systems that remove carbon from the atmosphere. Most recently, CarbonCapture raised an additional $90 million of Series A funding in a deal led by Prime Movers Lab. Alumni Ventures is one of nine firms that participated in the deal, which put the startup’s pre-money valuation at $125 million.
Tracking VC investors and startups with PitchBook
Our intuitive platform makes it easy to find, track, and connect with thousands of VC investors and startup companies. Whether you’re an entrepreneur who’s looking for funding or an investor on the hunt for new opportunities, our research, data, and insights can inform and strengthen your decision-making about which step to take next.
What we track
156,000+
VC-backed companies
40,000+
Startups and stealth startups
59,000+
VC firms
695,000+
VC investments
43,000+
VC funds
Learn more about PitchBook’s data coverage
Take a closer look at the data PitchBook tracks, including investors, professionals, companies, and deals data across the public and private capital market ecosystems. Request a free trial.
