EC investor survey

The long-awaited launch of bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States this year helped engender a wave of optimism that the value of the well-known cryptocurrency would quickly appreciate. The logic was simple: With an easy, low-cost avenue now available for regular investors to purchase bitcoin, the supply-demand curve would shift and the value of each bitcoin would rise. But the response has been somewhat mixed. While the value of bitcoin has nearly doubled in the past year to around $43,000 today, it has largely…

In 2021, it felt like every startup was able to raise at an inflated valuation no matter its size, sector or underlying business model. Today, things look a lot different. Comparing pre-money valuations, every startup fundraising stage except seed saw median valuations decline last year compared to 2022, according to data from PitchBook. Things were slightly better in 2022, when only the median late-stage and growth-stage valuations were down from 2021, while the median early-stage valuation…

With just a couple of days left in 2023, there’s no better time to take a moment to reflect on all that’s happened this year. From the Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and crypto’s widespread troubles to AI’s ascent amid a volatile fundraising market, there was a lot to talk about this year, and investors and founders sure did share their thoughts freely with us in our surveys. Of course, some sectors are going to be more pertinent than others going into 2024, so we’ve listed some of our most…

If I had to characterize 2023, I’d say it was the year of the great venture divide. Many aspects of venture didn’t follow one trend, but instead saw the emergence of extremes on either side of the spectrum. Most startups continued to struggle to fundraise, but if you happened to be building in AI or defense, you could pretty much raise money like it was still the high-flying market of 2021. Exits remained at their lowest level in years and we saw what might have been the largest startup acquisition of all time get…

Startup valuations — especially at the later stages — have come down drastically over the last year and a half of the ongoing market correction. Companies that once boasted sky-high valuations like Klarna and Getir have seen their valuations slashed in their latest funding rounds. Outside of Klarna and Getir, though, very few late-stage companies have raised new primary rounds since the booming 2021 market. This means secondary data is one of the few sources where the market can turn to get a…

Australia and New Zealand are a far cry from Silicon Valley, yet the problems and circumstances of their venture environments tend to be similar in nature. Megadeals are rarer today, early-stage funding is up, valuations have come back to earth, and investors are encouraging their portfolio companies to demonstrate a sustainable business with a clear path to revenue. The difference is that the geographic isolation of Australia and New Zealand creates a sense of hustle, if not urgency, around…