Key Takeaways
The innovation economy continues its record-breaking performance despite ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
01 Pace of fundraising increases
Venture capital funds are raising more on average and coming back to raise sooner (1.7 years today vs. 2.7 years in 2015).
02 Significant amounts of capital being deployed rapidly
Investors are deploying capital exceptionally fast. Major firms like Tiger Global are averaging 27 deals per month.
03 The IPO window remains open
More US VC-backed tech IPOs (36), have occurred in the first half of 2021 than any comparable period during the previous decade.
Fundamentally different fundraising
The number of funds $1 billion+ have substantially increased their share of fundraising. These now account for 47% of US VC fundraising - up 28 percentage points from 2015. At the same time, $1 billion+ funds have been deploying capital faster and subsequently coming back to market quicker.
Investors pouncing on opportunity
SoftBank is being eclipsed by the ascendance of new investors. Among them, Tiger Global has emerged as a major force - with an outsourced and shortened due diligence process, no board seat requirements and aggressive term sheets that are leading to an accelerated deal pace.
IP-Whoa! Tech taps the public markets
The aggregate number of US VC-backed tech IPOs has already outpaced last year and is on track to be the highest since 2014. The average size of companies going public continues to increase as demonstrated by higher revenue figures and valuations.
Bolstering the board
Surprisingly, only one - third of private company boards have independent directors today - potentially duplicating shared viewpoints, rather than establishing strong corporate governance.
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