News & Analysis

Pressure continues to mount on VC 

There is no denying the obvious: Venture capital has gone through a rough couple of months. Just when a difficult exit environment seemed like it couldn’t get worse, the sudden failure of Silicon Valley Bank further rattled investors’ confidence. Deal activity dropped in all stages and sectors during the first quarter of 2023, and the fundraising momentum carried from 2021 has evaporated.  

But is the outlook really all that pessimistic? 

The Q1 2023 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, sponsored by Insperity, J.P. Morgan, and Dentons, tells the complete story behind the data. Spoiler alert: The outlook isn’t all doom and gloom. 

Takeaways include:  

• The estimated deal count for Q1 2023 remains above 2020’s quarterly figures, despite a drop from Q4 2022.

 

• Fundraising’s momentum has all but come to a halt, with only $11.7 billion closed across 99 funds. 

 

• Late-stage deal value has plummeted to a 21-quarter low, hitting only $11.6 billion. 

 

• Venture-growth deal value ticked upward in Q1 2023, influenced heavily by Stripe’s $6.5 billion raise. Deal count in the growth stage hit the lowest it has been since Q3 2020.