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Q4 2021
PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor
January 13, 2022
This report was updated on January 14, 2022 to account for an error in deal data.
Fundraising tops $100 billion in a record year for venture capital
The VC industry has closed another remarkable year for the record books, despite the ongoing pandemic and growing adversities such as economy-wide supply chain woes and labor shortages.
The Q4 2021 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, sponsored by Insperity, depicts how the frenetic pace of dealmaking, exits and fundraising in 2021 toppled previous records, even as the pandemic’s future trajectory remains unknown.
Highlights include:
This report was created in partnership with NVCA and sponsored by Insperity. Interested in sponsoring future editions of this report? Visit our media partnerships page to learn more.
Table of contents
Fundraising tops $100 billion in a record year for venture capital
The VC industry has closed another remarkable year for the record books, despite the ongoing pandemic and growing adversities such as economy-wide supply chain woes and labor shortages.
The Q4 2021 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, sponsored by Insperity, depicts how the frenetic pace of dealmaking, exits and fundraising in 2021 toppled previous records, even as the pandemic’s future trajectory remains unknown.
Highlights include:
- US VC-backed companies raised nearly $330 billion in 2021–roughly double the previous record of $166.6 billion raised in 2020.
- Nontraditional investors such as corporate VC funds, hedge funds, PE firms and sovereign wealth funds participated in nearly 77% of total annual deal value.
- Exits were a huge part of the story of 2021, with more than $774 billion in annual exit value created by VC-backed companies that either went public or were acquired.
- Early-stage VC deal activity in 2021 nearly doubled the prior record and eclipsed $80 billion for the first time ever.
This report was created in partnership with NVCA and sponsored by Insperity. Interested in sponsoring future editions of this report? Visit our media partnerships page to learn more.
Table of contents
| Executive summary | 3 |
| NVCA policy highlights | 4 |
| Overview | 5 |
| Angel, seed, and first financings | 7 |
| Early-stage VC | 9 |
| Late-stage VC | 11 |
| Regional spotlight | 15 |
| Deals by sector | 16 |
| Insperity | 20 |
| Venture debt | 22 |
| Female founders | 23 |
| Nontraditional investors | 25 |
| Exits | 27 |
| Fundraising | 29 |
| Methodology | 31 |