Even With Venture Slowdown, Megadeals Grow

Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2024 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Board.

Although venture funding still seems to be slumbering overall, big rounds have made a comeback this year.

Per The Crunchbase Megadeals Board, nearly 240 rounds of $100 million or more have been announced (or reported by reputable news outlets) by U.S.-based startups. That number already tops the 210 raised all of last year.

Of course, as the above chart shows, the numbers are still way off from the aberration years of 2021 and 2022 — when the venture market exploded to never-seen-before heights — but nevertheless show investors’ growing desire to pump large sums of money into companies they believe in.

Where is the money going?

The runaway leader in the clubhouse as far as sectors that have seen the most megadeals this year is the biotech/healthcare industry. Those sectors have seen a combined 87 $100-million-or-more rounds. They include Xaira Therapeutics’ massive $1 billion-plus round in April and Radiology Partners’ growth equity investment of approximately $720 million in February.

Next in line is everybody’s favorite — AI. That sector actually saw the two largest rounds this year, with OpenAI’s $6.6 billion round raised at a post-money valuation of $157 billion this month and xAI’s $6 billion round valuing the company at $24 billion post money earlier this year.

Cyber, fintech and energy also have seen large slices of the megadeals pie. In fact, there have been huge rounds in a variety of sectors, including gaming (Epic Games), autonomous driving (Waymo), and defense tech (Anduril Industries)

Not only has this year already surpassed last’s total of $100 million-plus rounds, but it also has already bested it in terms of $1 billion-or-more rounds, with 11 U.S. startups raising such rounds compared to 10 last year.

Of course, last year can still claim the largest round — OpenAI’s gigantic $10 billion-plus round from Microsoft.

Money, money, money

The juxtaposition of venture funding falling but massive megadeals increasing is odd, but seems to indicate that investors (in the U.S. at least) are again willing to bet big on companies in which they see significant potential.

It also shows biotech/healthcare’s strong pull right now in venture. Last year, those sectors saw 65 rounds of $100 million or more raised by U.S.-based startups, but this year’s total has already whizzed past that — likely due to the infusion of AI into those industries.

Based on the current pace, this year’s megadeals total likely will hit close to 300 — nearly a 50% jump from last year and a sign that not all is slow in the venture world.

Methodology

The numbers in this story pull data from The Crunchbase Megadeals Board, including the single industry it assigns each round. The board tracks only U.S.-based startups.

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Illustration: Dom Guzman