Triangle startups had a rough year in 2023. Will 2024 be any better?

The big picture: The slump was felt all across the U.S. — not just in the Triangle — as higher interest rates made raising money more expensive, company valuations shrunk and optimistic growth targets from the pandemic era didn't pan out, Axios' Dan Primack wrote.

• Scot Wingo, a local investor with the Tweener Fund and CEO of the on-demand car servicing startup Spiffy, said the slowdown in investment really hit the Triangle in the second half of the year, with many early-stage companies finding it difficult to raise any funding at all.

State of play: The year was especially brutal for tech layoffs, with many of the region's largest employers laying people off, including Red Hat, Google, Lenovo and Cisco.

• Some fast-growing startups contracted, too, including Epic Games in Cary and Pendo in Raleigh.

Yes, but: There were still some bright spots. A number of local companies are seeing traction around providing data and AI services for health care, Wingo said.

• The Raleigh-based artificial intelligence startup Pryon raised an eye-catching $100 million last year.

• And the largest local raise of 2023 came from the Research Triangle Park pharmaceutical company Pathalys Pharma, which brought in $150 million from investors.

What's next: Jason Caplain, a general partner at Bull City Venture Partners, said last year was the hardest time to raise money since the 2008 recession.

• He doesn't see it getting much easier until perhaps the latter half of 2024 and that a lack of local initial public offerings and acquisitions has starved many investors of fresh capital to re-invest.

What they're saying: "I think the number of [startups] has to normalize a little bit and interest rates coming down and IPOs coming back will help," Caplain said.

• At the moment, though, the whole startup ecosystem is clogged up, he said.