VC Fundraising Plumbs Nine-Year Lows – in Line with Tech Carnage

The fourth quarter of 2022 saw an eye-popping decline in fundraising by venture capital firms, hitting a nine-year low, as economic pressures that already bogged down technology startups began to affect the investors who support the industry, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Preqin Ltd., a firm that tracks venture fund data, released a new report that shows VCs raised a meager $20.6 billion in new funds in the fourth quarter, an astounding 65% decline compared with the quarter a year earlier and the lowest fourth-quarter amount since 2013.

This figure was also less than half raised in the preceding three months, representing the first time volumes decreased from the third quarter to fourth quarter since 2009.

The data showed that limited partners (LPs), invested in 226 funds in the fourth quarter, the smallest amount since 2012. To put it in context, in the last three months of 2021, during COVID, LPs invested in 620 funds.

Some of those LPs include university endowments, pension funds and family offices, many who plowed a vast amount of capital into VCs during the past five years. But that all began to unwind late in the second half of 2022 amid market uncertainty triggered by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes to tackle soaring inflation.

The drastic drop in fundraising indicates the investors are now beginning to feel the impact of the broader economic environment, which had primarily affected the technology startups they backed in the past.

As the industry adjusts to these shifts, it remains to be seen how venture-capital firms will adapt and maintain their operations while navigating the challenging economic landscape.