Progress Ventures Q4 2017 Newsletter

These shifts in strategy have created ripple effects across several key areas of the US Venture Capital landscape. The median age of startups raising early rounds of funding has increased to 2.42 years, up 38% over the last four years according to the most Q4 2017 Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor, which has subsequently impacted later stages of investing from angel & seed, to Series A and Series B onward. Liquidity cycles have also been affected by this change in market dynamics, where companies are pushing off IPOs or other exits in favor of private capital to reach their growth goals. Where there have been liquidity events, sale prices have been exponentially larger than in years past, with the exit size of companies increasing almost 17% YOY (source: PitchBook). Similarly, round sizes continue to grow at every stage of the VC lifecycle, and if the record levels of unicorn activity persist – especially in the technology sectors – there follow-on investments are likely to continue.

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