While enterprise capital funding still appears to be dormant, large rounds have made a comeback this 12 months.
According to the Crunchbase Megadeals Board, US startups have announced (or been reported by reputable news outlets) nearly 240 rounds valued at least $100 million. This number already exceeds the 210 collected in all of last 12 months.
Of course, as the chart above shows, these numbers are still a far cry from the aberrations of 2021 and 2022, when the enterprise capital market exploded to unprecedented heights, but they nevertheless exhibit the growing willingness of investors to pump large sums of cash into firms they consider in.
Where does the money go?
The clear leader in the clubs when it involves the sectors in which the most mega-transactions have been recorded this 12 months is the biotechnology/health care industry. These sectors saw a total of 87 rounds valued at $100 million or more. include Xair therapya massive $1 billion-plus round in April and Partners in radiologygrowth equity investment of roughly $720 million in February.
Next up is everyone’s favorite – artificial intelligence. This sector has actually seen two of the largest rounds this 12 months, with OpenAI$6.6 billion round raised this month at a post-money valuation of $157 billion xAIvalues the company at $24 billion, following a $6 billion money outlay earlier this 12 months.
Cyber, fintech and energy also saw a big slice of the megadeals pie. In fact, there have been huge rounds in various sectors, including gaming (Epic games), autonomous driving (Waymo) and defense technology (Anduril Industry)
This 12 months has not only already surpassed the previous total of rounds of over $100 million, but has also surpassed it for rounds of $1 billion or more, with 11 U.S. startups raising such rounds in comparison with 10 last 12 months.
Of course, last 12 months still boasts the largest round — OpenAI’s mammoth $10 billion-plus round Microsoft.
Money, money, money
The juxtaposition of the decline in enterprise capital funding and the rise of giant megadeals is strange, but it seems to point that investors (at least in the US) are once again willing to bet big on firms where they see significant potential.
It also shows that biotech/healthcare is very talked-about today. Last 12 months, 65 rounds of $100 million or more were raised in these sectors by US-based startups, but this 12 months’s total has already exceeded that quantity – likely as a consequence of the introduction of AI into these industries.
At the current pace, the total variety of megadeals this 12 months is prone to be near 300, a nearly 50% increase over last 12 months and a sign that not all is slow in the enterprise world.
Methodology
The numbers in this story come from the Megadeals Crunchbase board, covering the single industry assigned in each round. The board only tracks US-based startups.