Venture capital is a hits business. It’s OK if most of your Companies flounder or fail, so long as a few go on to monstrous valuations. But success requires some home runs and, if we look over the past decade, those haven’t panned out as hoped.
In fact, of the 20 largest public market debuts of venture-backed U.S. companies founded in the past 15 years, only three are trading above their initial offering prices.
Pink slips to pitch decks: Laid-off tech workers turn entrepreneurs
With tech companies cutting loose large swaths of high-quality talent, it’s no surprise that some of these laid-off workers are starting their own companies. In this first article in a three-part series, we chat with investors and founders while checking out U.S. Funding numbers for early-stage startups.
Another shrinking unicorn valuation
An investor in Swiggy, one of India’s largest food delivery platforms, has slashed the value of the company in half compared to its last funding round in early 2022. The drastic valuation cut is just the latest among a growing list of tech startups facing a harsh return to normal following the funding boom of 2021.
Climate prediction tech is red hot
A growing cohort of climate and Weather Intelligence Startups uses AI and troves of data points to forecast near- and long-term weather and climate effects. Housing developers use those predictions to decide where to build new homes. Consumers use them to plan tropical vacations. And retailers use them to forecast supply chain issues. Even as VCs pull back dramatically in other sectors, climate and weather intelligence startups saw their second-best funding year in a decade in 2022, Crunchbase data shows.
Generative AI writes its way onto our Megadeals Board
Nine venture funding rounds of $100 million or more have gone to generative AI companies already this year, an analysis of our Megadeals Leaderboard finds. The latest is New York-based Runway, which landed its recent funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. Here are all the other U.S.-based startups that have landed $100 million-plus funding rounds this year.
