Global venture capital (VC) investment fell slightly from $83.8 billion across 9,458 deals in Q4’23 to $75.9 billion across 7,520 deals in Q1’24 amid geopolitical tensions, the extended drought in exits among VC-backed companies, and a continued pullback in investment at later deal stages. The level of VC investment in Q1’24 was the lowest since Q2’19, while the number of VC deals was the lowest since Q2’16.
The numbers are helped by a $5.2 billion raise by Sweden-based H2 Green Steel and a $4 billion raise by U.S.-based Anthropic, according to the Q1’24 edition of KPMG Private Enterprise’s Venture Pulse—a quarterly report that shines a spotlight on VC investment trends globally across key jurisdictions around the world. China also saw two $1 billion+ megadeals during the quarter—a $1.1 billion raise by IM Motors and a $1 billion raise by YueZhiAnMian.
VC investment dropped in both the Americas and Asia this quarter, while it rose in Europe entirely on the back of H2 Green Steel’s raise. The Americas accounted for almost half of global VC funding in Q1’24 ($38.2 billion across 3,205 deals)—with the U.S. accounting for the vast majority of this amount ($36.6 billion across 2,882 deals). Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific attracted $18.9 billion across 2,305 deals), while Europe saw $17.9 billion across 1,798 deals.
However, global exit activity remains muted falling from $49.8 billion in Q4’23 to $30.7 billion in Q1’24—the lowest level since Q4’16. This is despite an increase in the U.S. from $12.5 billion to $18.6 billion quarter-over-quarter. Exit activity in Asia experienced the worst decline, falling to $10 billion in Q1’24, compared to $33.9 billion in Q4’23.
