VC deal flow slows in Q1, but there's reason for optimism
Venture capital funding cools in Q1 2023 as fallout from crypto winter reduces investor interest. Global deal value totaled $2.6B, down 11% quarter-over-quarter and 78% year-over-year, according to Pitchbook.
There are 353 transactions in total. Layer-2 scaling solutions have attracted considerable attention. Blockstream, a Bitcoin scaling solution, previously raised $16.31 billion in Series B funding in 2022 and now has raised another $125. Zero-knowledge is hot, too; Scroll, a company building a zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machine solution (zkEVM), raised $50MM.
While it was a tough sled for early-stage companies with a 16.7% drop in funding rounds, late-stage valuations were up 209%. Wallet hardware and technology providers Ledger and Taurus have raised $10.8 billion and $65 million in Series C and B rounds, respectively.
Deal flow in the first quarter is likely to be a lagging indicator, as it was after last year's bear market. Deals appear to be heating up again as the cryptocurrency market rebounds in 2023. This week alone, it was said that the Worldcoin crypto project will receive 100mm of new funding. Bitcoin financial services company River has raised $3.5 billion in Series B funding. Binance Labs with 200+ portfolio companies is deploying $500MM and growing its assets to $9B.
Venture capital funding cools in Q1 2023 as fallout from crypto winter reduces investor interest. Global deal value totaled $2.6B, down 11% quarter-over-quarter and 78% year-over-year, according to Pitchbook.
There are 353 transactions in total. Layer-2 scaling solutions have attracted considerable attention. Blockstream, a Bitcoin scaling solution, previously raised $16.31 billion in Series B funding in 2022 and now has raised another $125. Zero-knowledge is hot, too; Scroll, a company building a zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machine solution (zkEVM), raised $50MM.
While it was a tough sled for early-stage companies with a 16.7% drop in funding rounds, late-stage valuations were up 209%. Wallet hardware and technology providers Ledger and Taurus have raised $10.8 billion and $65 million in Series C and B rounds, respectively.
Deal flow in the first quarter is likely to be a lagging indicator, as it was after last year's bear market. Deals appear to be heating up again as the cryptocurrency market rebounds in 2023. This week alone, it was said that the Worldcoin crypto project will receive 100mm of new funding. Bitcoin financial services company River has raised $3.5 billion in Series B funding. Binance Labs with 200+ portfolio companies is deploying $500MM and growing its assets to $9B.