PE-VC activity takes a pause in February
Chennai: Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE-VC) activity took a breather in February with total investment value just marginally rising month-on-month, but more than doubling year-on-year. Even as the momentum for funding technology businesses was strong for most part of February, the sharp fall in the prices of recently listed tech companies slowed things down by the end of the month, analysts and investors said.
Total PE-VC funding in February stood at $6.1 billion, up from $5 billion in January and $2.6 billion in the same month last year, data from Venture Intelligence said. The number of deals marginally dipped to 117 from 122 in January.
The Web3 space continued its investment streak with 10 deals worth $477 million recorded in the month, compared to just two deals of around $26 million last year. With this, crypto/Web3 companies have raised a total of $514 million in 2022, compared to $518 million in the whole of 2021. Ethereum scaling platform Polygon’s $450 million raise from a slew of major VCs helped push up the monthly tally.
Overall, February saw 16 mega deals (deals over $100 million) worth $4.9 billion as high value late-stage deals dominated in the period. Digital media venture Bodhi Tree floated by veterans James Murdoch and Uday Shankar was an exception, as it launched with a $1.5 billion backing from Qatar Investment Authority.
The other top deals were $400 million, $330 million and $300 million raised by Uniphore, ElasticRun and XpressBees Logistics respectively, which helped them turn unicorns in the month. Early-stage funding saw a marginal decline from $312 million in January to $242 million in February.
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Total PE-VC funding in February stood at $6.1 billion, up from $5 billion in January and $2.6 billion in the same month last year, data from Venture Intelligence said. The number of deals marginally dipped to 117 from 122 in January.
The Web3 space continued its investment streak with 10 deals worth $477 million recorded in the month, compared to just two deals of around $26 million last year. With this, crypto/Web3 companies have raised a total of $514 million in 2022, compared to $518 million in the whole of 2021. Ethereum scaling platform Polygon’s $450 million raise from a slew of major VCs helped push up the monthly tally.
Overall, February saw 16 mega deals (deals over $100 million) worth $4.9 billion as high value late-stage deals dominated in the period. Digital media venture Bodhi Tree floated by veterans James Murdoch and Uday Shankar was an exception, as it launched with a $1.5 billion backing from Qatar Investment Authority.
The other top deals were $400 million, $330 million and $300 million raised by Uniphore, ElasticRun and XpressBees Logistics respectively, which helped them turn unicorns in the month. Early-stage funding saw a marginal decline from $312 million in January to $242 million in February.
“Coming as it does at a time when global markets are adjusting to the US Fed’s impending tightening, the Russia-Ukraine crisis poses several imponderables at this point,” Arun Natarajan, founder, Venture Intelligence, said. Noting that March is likely to be a crucial period for the private markets, Natarajan said the geo-political uncertainty is likely to affect the IPO markets initially — and if it prolongs — spill over into late-stage private funding.
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