The Glass Half Full: Venture capital investment in the U.S. was 59% higher in the first three quarters of 2014 versus the first three quarters of 2013, with $13.9 billion invested in second quarter of 2014 alone, the second highest quarter for venture funding since the first quarter of 2001.
The Glass Half Empty: Venture capital investment in the third quarter of 2014 dropped 30% from the aforementioned second quarter, the first quarter-over-quarter downturn in funding in at least two years, and the number of deals funded dropped 10 percent.
On the IPO front, 18 venture capital-backed companies in the U.S. went public in the third quarter of 2014, down from 24 in the second quarter and 35 in the first quarter of the year. And while 7 tech companies have gone public this year with valuations of at least $1 billion, 21 companies have managed to raise private money with valuation of $1 billion or more.
VCs take August off, so Q3 is generally significantly lighter than Q2
[Editor’s Note: That’s a great point, but keep in mind that volume ticked up 3 percent from Q2 to Q3 last year.]