Q4 was the DC area’s lowest quater for VC activity since 2016

Editor’s note: These figures may vary slightly, as some deals aren’t accounted for until weeks after quarterly VC reports are published.

In Q4 of 2022, DC companies hit a low not seen in years in venture capital funding.

The DMV region raised $317 million in the year’s final quarter, spread across 60 deals, according to the latest PitchBook-National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Venture Monitor report that dropped Thursday. The last time the region raised a number that low was in Q4 of 2016, which brought in $246 million from 66 deals.

But hope is not lost, especially when considering the whole of 2022. DC-area companies collectively raised $4.27 billion last year — not too shabby compared to the $5 billion of 2021, the area’s biggest funding year ever. Comparatively, companies raised $2 billion in all of 2020, which was up 30% from 2019.

It’s also important to note that not all of the numbers have been reported yet; Venture Monitor reported $700 million for Q3 in October, and that number has since grown to $985 million.

All that said, why are Q4’s numbers so low? Clifford Rossi, professor of the practice and executive-in-residence at the University of Maryland’s School of Business, attributes the figures to investors being a bit more conservative as of late.

“My sense would be that investors are being a bit more circumspect given the potential for some deterioration in the economy,” he told Technical.ly.

What this means for the new year remains to be seen, though some are already making predictions. Until then, here are the region’s top 10 deals of the last quarter:

1. Arlington, Virginia restaurant tech company MarginEdge raised a $45 million Series C led by Ten Coves Capital.
2. Trinity Cyber, based in Bowie, Maryland, secured $26.3 million in debt financing from an unnamed source in November.
3. Rockville, Maryland-based Sepio, an asset risk management software company, raised $22 million in a Series B led by US Venture Partners.
4. RangeForce, a Manassas, Virginia cyber company, raised $19 million.
5. StayNTouch, a Bethesda, Maryland cloud company that helps hotels with operation and guest management, raised $18 million.
6. In December, healthcare company Cabinet Health raised $17 million in growth funds through a round led by Global Impact Fund.
7. Tellius, a Reston, Virginia AI company, raised $16 million in October in a Series B led by Baird Capital. Sands Capital Ventures, Grotech Ventures and Veraz Investments —all previous investors — also participated.
8. Late in 2022, Rockville’s QuantumSpace raised $15 million from VC firm Prime Movers Lab.
9. Hybrid musculoskeletal care provider Limber Health raised $12 million in an oversubscribed Series A in November. Blue Venture Fund led the round.
10. EngagedMD, a DC-based fertility solutions company, raised $11 million led by MonCap.

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