VC investment globally holds steady
Uncertainty continued to permeate the global VC market in Q2’23 amidst geopolitical uncertainties, stubbornly high inflation, and the possibility of further increases to interest rates in a number of major jurisdictions. With no end in sight to market challenges, VC investors globally continued to hold back from making large mega-deals this quarter—with a few exceptions: a $6.9 billion raise by US-based payments company Stripe, a $2 billion raise by Singapore-based online retailer Shein and a $1.3 billion raise by Microsoft-backed AI startup Inflection in California.
Mega-Deal raises VC investment in the US despite continued drop-off in deal volume
VC investment in the US dropped slightly in Q2’23, despite a $6.8 billion raise by payments processing company Stripe. The deal was the largest VC raise in the US by far during the quarter, followed by two large raises in the Artificial Intelligence area - a $1.3 billion raise by Microsoft-backed Inflection, and a $450 million raise by AI company Anthropic. Additional large deals included a $421 million raise by specialized cloud computing provider CoreWeave and a $401 million by cell and gene therapeutics company ElevateBio.
VC investment across the Americas holds steady quarter-over-quarter
VC investment across the Americas held relatively steady in Q2’23. The US continued to account for the lion’s share of investment in the region, including a $6.9 billion megadeal by Stripe. Outside of the US, VC investment in Canada was relatively strong this quarter, while VC investment in Brazil remained subdued.
VC investment in Europe stops slide
VC investors in Europe continued to play a waiting game in Q2’23, with investors holding back on making major investments, particularly late-stage investments given the amount of uncertainty in the market and the lack of exit opportunities. VC investment did, however, hold steady during the quarter—a positive sign following four straight quarters of declining investment.
VC investment in Asia drops for sixth straight quarter
While VC investment in Asia fell for the sixth straight quarter in Q2’23, there were pockets of strength in the VC space. The alternative energy, energy technology, and battery storage space continued to be a very attractive area of VC investment in the region—particularly in China, where lithium-ion battery component company Libode raised $374.7 million, solar technology firm Qingdian Photovoltaic raised $217.5 billion, and fusion technology company Neo Fusion raised $216.1 million during the quarter. During Q2’23, Japan-based Kyoto Fusioneering raised $79 million.