Startup valuations are rising

We received a great presentation from the NVCA that reviewed the venture capital market in 2018. One of my favorite slides along with commentary is below.

Valuations have risen significantly. The median valuation of Series A deals has doubled since 2013 to $20mm and was up sharply from 2017. Series B valuations have nearly tripled since 2013 an also took a sharp jump in 2018 to $56mm. Series C and Series D valuations show similar trends, up 2x to 3x since 2013 with sharp jumps from 2017 to 2018. The only sector which hasn’t seen a material jump in valuation is the seed stage.

From Seed to B, it’s 3x. Notice that valuations from the seed to Series A stage rise ~3x from $7mm to $20mm, and then rise 3x again from the A to b stage going from $20mm to $56mm. Valuations from the B to C double from $56mm to $115mm and then triple again from $115mm at the C to $325mm at the D. In conclusion, you can expect a 2x to 3x jump in valuation as you graduate to the next stage.

Median age is up only slightly. The median age of companies hasn’t changed much over time. The slopes of each line at every stage are generally upward, but the increases aren’t dramatic. That said median age is up from the seed to B stage by roughly 20% since 2013.

The late stage is attracting a lot of capital. The charts below show the massive jump in late stage, unicorn funding. The level of capital invested in unicorns more than double to $44bln during 2018 and the number of deals went from 80 to 120. Similarly deals of at least $100mm in size saw $61bln of capital invested (that includes unicorns) and the number of deals nearly doubled to 198 from 100 in 2017. These megadeals are attracting 47% of all venture capital dollars.

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