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US VC Valuations Report

2023 Annual

US VC Valuations Report

February 7, 2024

VC valuations slump persists 

VC valuations continued to slide from their peaks in 2021 and early 2022, with only pre-seed and seed deals bucking the trend. While median early-stage and late-stage valuations fell to their three- and five-year lows, respectively, an abundance of small funds competing for seed deals helped to keep prices up for companies in those categories.

Not only did 2023 see a dismally low number of IPOs, but the median valuation of startups that managed to make a public debut declined to the lowest level in a decade. Although M&A activity dropped too, acquisition valuations increased year-over-year, according to our 2023 Annual US VC Valuations Report, sponsored by Morgan Stanley At Work and Mintz.
 

Table of contents
Key takeaways 4
Pre-seed and seed valuations 5
Early-stage VC valuations 7
Late-stage VC valuations 10
Venture-growth valuations 12
A word from Morgan Stanley At Work 14
AI 16
Biopharma 18
A word from Mintz 20
Nontraditional investors 22
Liquidity 24
Deal terms 26