Hello, friends!
If you are a founder looking to raise your first external capital or your startup is a bit farther down the line, you need to know what’s going on in the world of venture capital. Don’t worry, the TechCrunch+ crew has your back.
Building off TechCrunch’s rapid-fire coverage of individual startup funding rounds, we’re digging deep into the global trends shaping venture appetite to find out how startups are responding to the new and more conservative reality.
The good news is that while the good times of 2021 are fast receding in the rearview mirror, there’s still plenty of capital flowing. It’s less compared to times of plenty, sure, but billions and billions of dollars are being invested every month. Here’s the latest from our desks:
- The state of play: Some founders are bucking the slowdown by compressing the time between raising seed capital and their Series A. One startup got the work done in just over half a year! And while traditional venture capital activity slows, SoftBank can’t help but keep investing, and there are all new rules around venture debt in the post-Silicon Valley Bank world.
- What investors want: Well, deal allocation, naturally. But surprisingly, AI-focused venture investing has been modest thus far in 2023 when compared to prior results. And, despite its strong performance, the cybersecurity industry has not generated enough enthusiasm to rectify falling venture interest in startups building for digital security.
- The news is not all bad, though. Venture leasing could help keep hardware-focused startups afloat, and from a sector’s ashes, we could see a new insurtech boom as startups continue to innovate in the industry.
The TechCrunch+ crew is busy every day chewing through venture capital data, talking to founders about the current state of play and working to collate discrete pieces of news into trends and narratives so that you can focus on what you do best: Build.
See you soon!