A new report released today by Crunchbase Inc. has revealed mixed results in the global venture capital marketplace in November, with funding down from October 2023 and November last year.

In November, $19.2 billion was invested into startups, down 16% from the $23 million invested in November 2022, a figure which itself was down 67% from November 2021. Funding was down only slightly from October.

In contrast to a report in November from Forum Ventures LLC saying that there has been a slight resurgence in pre-seed investment, Crunchbase found that overall, early-stage investments, which include pre-seed, fell 34% in the month compared to November last year and seed funding dropped over 15% in the same period.

Surprisingly, Crunchbase found that late-stage funding increased by 7% compared to November 2022, the first sign of perhaps a turn in the market.

Healthcare and financial services companies raised the largest amount of venture capital in November, accounting for more than $3 billion each. Artificial intelligence companies came in at third place, with $2.4 billion raised in the month.

The leading valuation on a company raising VC in November was Blockchain.com, which raised $110 million on a $7 billion valuation on Nov. 15. The round, led by Kingsway Capital Management LP, was joined by numerous investors, including Baillie Gifford & Co., Lakestar Capital Management LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners LLC, GV Management Co. LLC, Access Industries Inc., Moore Capital Management LP, Prudence Holdings PLC, Freeman Capital Partners LLC, Pledge Ventures Management LLC and Coinbase Ventures LLC.

Israel-based Next Insurance had the second-highest valuation in the quarter, raising $265 million on a $4 billion valuation on Nov. 1.

Merger and acquisition activity is noted in the report as picking up last month, with Blackstone Group LP’s acquisition of pet care marketplace Rover Group Inc. on Nov. 29 leading the list at $2.3 billion. Palo Alto Networks Inc. also announced that it had entered an agreement to acquire Talon Cyber Security for $625 million on Nov. 5.

The month was also marked by what the report calls “the creation and destruction of value,” with high-profile developments, such as the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the once $32 billion-valued cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd., on Nov. 2. OpenAI LP also faced a potential crisis with the firing and subsequent rehiring of Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman. Despite the challenges, the report notes, OpenAI’s valuation has remained at $29 billion and has the prospect of soaring to a valuation of about $80 billion.

Photo: Shannon Clark/Flickr