Infographic – Venture Deals Cool Off in Q1 2019

Click on image for full-size view. (CB Insights)

14 Apr. 2019. Venture capital investments worldwide declined in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the near record-setting pace of the last 3 months of 2018. But the data in this weekend’s infographic, from the quarterly CB Insights and PwC Moneytree Report, also show some gains in venture investing compared to the first quarter of 2018.

The report shows global venture investors made 3,327 deals in the first quarter of 2019 with a total of $52.2 billion dollars. Those numbers are down compared to the last quarter of 2018, when venture companies placed $67 billion in start-up enterprises in more than 3,500 deals. However, when compared to the first quarter of 2018, to account for seasonal factors, total venture funding in the first quarter of 2019 was still somewhat higher — $52.2 billion in Q1 2019, compared to $49.4 billion in Q1 2018 — while the 3,327 deals executed so far in 2019 declined from about 3,600 the same time in 2018.

Investments in companies developing systems using artificial intelligence, a topic covered frequently on Science & Enterprise, fell 22 percent to $2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.

Venture financing in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2019 reflects the worldwide numbers, with 4 percent fewer deals and 36 percent less dollar volume, at $25 billion, compared to the fourth quarter of 2018. Seed-stage deals in the U.S., with funding for the newest start-ups, fell to 24 percent of all deals in the first quarter of 2019, continuing a decline begun in the third quarter of 2018, when 36 percent of all venture transactions went to seed-stage companies.

The New York City metropolitan area recorded $4.5 billion in venture financing in the first quarter of 2019, more than doubling the dollar amount in the fourth quarter of 2018, while investments in Silicon Valley companies declined 19 percent to $4.3 billion.

More from Science & Enterprise:

• Infographic – Germany Beats U.K. in Top Venture Funds
• Venture Funds, Mergers in A.I. Up Sharply in 2018
• Venture Fund Formed to Back Longevity Research
• Start-Ups Saying No Thanks to Venture Capital

*     *     *