Q3 2024 Venture Investing and M&A Data

The CB Insights Q3 2024 State of Venture Report is an analysis of global venture capital trends, focusing on dealmaking, funding, and exits by private venture backed companies. The report covers various sectors, geographic regions, and investment stages. Below we focus on the US only.

In Q3 2024, the U.S. venture capital activity was the 2nd lowest since Q1 2020, with $29.8bln in funding across 2,176 deals. We are still far below the peak levels seen during 2021. Early-stage investments accounted for 63% of all deals YTD, roughly in line with historical averages.

Exits remained in line with pre-2020 and 2021 levels, with 768 M&A events recording in Q3. We don’t see exit counts getting back to 2021 levels barring a massive decline in interest rates and renewed interest in software on par with pandemic levels.

Overall, venture in the US remains muted relative to prior quarters, as measured by deal volumes and exits, but in our view this is the right “normal” as it’s in line with pre-covid levels. 2020 and 2021 were an anomaly and should not be used as a comparison, in our view.

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