EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Unicorns, financing, megarounds and exits all hit record highs in second quarter
Venture capital continued to boom in the second quarter with record numbers for new unicorns, U.S. financing, megarounds and exits, according to the latest quarterly State of Venture Report from CB Insights.
The report makes for quite remarkable reading given the numbers involved. Not only has venture capital recovered from a slump in the second quarter of last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, but more money is flowing than ever before.
In the quarter ending June 30, $156 billion was invested into global startups, up 157% compared to the same quarter in 2020. The quarter is the biggest in dollars raised in the last decade. More than $70 billion was invested in the U.S., the highest level ever.
Some 135 unicorns, or companies with a valuation of more than $1 billion, were minted in the quarter, a record high and up 487% year-over-year. Companies entered the unicorn club at an average valuation of $1.6 billion in the first six months of 2021, up 33% from $1.2 billion in 2016.
Big deals drove the overall numbers. Megarounds, deals over $100 million, hit 390 in the quarter, an all-time high and only the second quarter to surpass the 300 mark. The previous record was 367 megarounds in the first quarter of this year.
The hottest sector in global venture funding was fintech, accounting for 22% of global funding in the quarter or $33.7 billion. The figure is up 191% over the second quarter of 2020.
Tiger Global was the most active investor in the quarter doing 81 deals, or 1.3 deals per business day excluding follow-on investments and up eight times year-over-year. Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital China rounded out the top three investors in the quarter.
Although Sequoia Capital China may be in the top three in terms of investments, the one negative in the report was a drop in funding in mainland China. Funding to China-based companies declined 18% in the quarter from a peak of $27.7 billion in the fourth quarter, while the number of deals dropped 5% over the same time.
The number of exits, whether through mergers and acquisitions or initial public offerings, also hit an all-time high of 2,893 in the quarter, up 109% year-over-year. The top exits in the quarter were Didi Global Inc., Coinbase Inc., UiPath Inc., AppLovin Corp. and Tokpoedia.
Image: CB Insights
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