Is it a boom? VC financing and exits hit record quarterly levels says CB Insights report

Now is the fourteenth winter of our discontent, made glorious summer not by the software of Sun but by the venture capital database built upon it. Some of the quarter’s highlights are:
 

The quarter saw $9.99 billion invested into 880 deals. Things got busy in Q1 2014 as venture capital investment hit its highest quarterly mark since Q2 2001. Compared to the same quarter last year, Q1 2014 saw fundings jump a notable 44% while deal activity rose 5%.

The most VC-backed IPOs since Q3 2000.   35 U.S.-based VC-backed companies went public in Q1, the highest quarterly tally since Q3 2000.  VC-backed M&A also jumped in Q1 - the 174 venture-backed mergers or acquisitions in Q1 represented 69% growth from the same quarter last year.

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Clean tech has good news – What? Yes really.  Funding and deals both climb for the first time in a long while. Green tech startups saw the highest deal and funding total the sector has received over the past five quarters in Q1’14. Compared to the same quarter last year, Q1 2014 saw a notable 38% increase in VC funding dollars and a 9% rise in deals.

The contrarian: Mobile falls below  $1B in VC –After 2 quarters of over a billion in VC investment, mobile eased up a bit falling below $1 billion in total funding for the quarter.

500 Startups, NEA and Kleiner lead – The most active VCs in the quarter each participated in 30 or more deals. 500 Startups led venture capital investors by unique company deals in Q1 2014, followed by Silicon Valley heavyweights Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates.

Mega deals drive late stage VC activity. Behind notable mega-deals including Cloudera and Tango, Q1 saw late-stage VC funding share (Series D/Series E+) hit 47%, a five- quarter high. With companies taking longer to go public, Series E+ deal share also hit a five-quarter high at 10%.

Geography.  The top two VC-backed deals in California accounted for more VC dollars than all deals in either NY and Mass. On a sequential basis, California VC funding jumped 56% raking in $5.75B. Washington fell from its Q4 highs while Texas showed strength hitting a five quarter high.

The full report from CBInsights is available by clicking here. 

This report covers equity financings into emerging companies. Funding must come from venture capital firms including corporate venture groups. Angel investments are not included unless an investment round included Angels investing alongside a venture capital firm or corporate venture group    

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