As we reported in January 2015, 2014 was a banner year for venture capital on all fronts, from fundraising, to investment and exits – save, however, for the small drop in the number of deals versus the largest aggregate dollar investment since 2000. The momentum and deal-size trends continued through Q1 2015, with the highest VC funding for any quarter since 2000 and the highest median valuations on record. Fewer, larger deals continued through Q1 2015, which saw $13.4 billion in total VC investment. www.pehub.com; MoneyTree Report, PricewaterhouseCoopers and NVCA based on data from Thomson Reuters . A Dow Jones VentureSource study actually estimated a final Q1 2015 total of $15.7 billion investment in U.S. startups and Prequin puts the Q1 2015 number at $16.3 billion. Big VC plays on later-stage companies totaling $4.2 billion (a 62 percent year-over-year increase) included SpaceX’s $1 billion raise and a $530 million round for Lyft. There were no noticeable shifts in industry group allocations, with software, media, consumer internet and biotech continuing to lead the pack. Dow Jones Venture Source.
