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1Q 2018
PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor
April 9, 2018
The 1Q 2018 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, produced in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, Perkins Coie and Solium, is the definitive review of the US venture capital ecosystem for 1Q and beyond. This research report contains data and analysis that covers the entire capital lifecycle through the industry, with special sections devoted to breaking down investment in life sciences and advanced manufacturing, cap table development across different stages, and how the recent glut in fundraising has shifted classic VC strategies.
Key Highlights:
- The $28.2 billion invested in 1Q marks the highest quarterly deal value of any quarter in our dataset. Contributing heavily to the new high, 113 deals were completed on at least $50 million, a higher number than were completed during the full year 2012.
- While completed exits remained relatively subdued with just 188 completed during the quarter, the IPOs of Dropbox and Zscaler, the 1Q registrations of Smartsheet, DocuSign and Spotify, and recent tax legislation that will leave major corporations with extra cash piles hint at a potential resurgence during 2018.
- Micro-funds accounted for 50% of the closed US VC funds in 1Q, a higher proportion than we have seen in recent years. The splash that has been made by SoftBank's Vision Fund, however, is creating the need for late-stage firms to raise larger and larger funds. There are currently several vehicles raising capital that will likely be closed on over $1 billion, including Sequoia's next fund that could top out at $8 billion.