Signs of hope for late-stage valuations
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Median pre-money Series C, D and E valuations for U.S. startups showed signs of bouncing back — or at least not falling anymore — in Q2, according to new data from Carta.
Why it matters: Since the downturn started about 18 months ago, late-stage startups have borne the brunt of ripples from the private market, given their proximity to public-market valuations.
Yes, but: This is only one quarter's worth of data, so don't start partying like it's 1999 yet. It's unclear if this pattern will hold; it could just be a blip (more on that below).
- Also: This data only includes Carta customers and not the entire universe of private venture-backed companies.
Yes, but: Global venture dollars continue shrinking
Despite a small uptick in Q1 this year, the most recent quarter saw global venture dollars invested continuing to shrink, per Crunchbase data.
Be smart: Often these anomalies are caused by a couple of big funding rounds that have nothing to do with marketwide trends.
- Adding to the evidence: Crunchbase's data shows that the deal count shrunk in Q1 compared to the prior quarter, and shrunk again in Q2.
Meanwhile: The Asia bright spots
Defying all other trends, Asia continued to dominate exit dollars during Q2, a trend going back more than a year now, according to Pitchbook.
Between the lines: Similarly to global VC dollars invested, this appears to be happening because of a number of outsized exits in Asia.
- When looking at exits by deal count, the data is less weighted toward Asia, with North America and Europe each having higher counts.
Meanwhile: Asia is also leading in venture fundraising in dollar terms (see chart at the bottom).
- But again, this is likely because of some new mega-funds in the region, as the fund count is more neck-and-neck with North American venture fundraising.
