2020 proved to be a record year for the VC industry, positioning the industry to start 2021 on a strong footing. The industry did not disappoint as Q1 investment, exit, and fundraising activity all exceeded first quarter results from last year.  

Investors deployed $69.0 billion into VC-backed companies in Q1, an increase of 92.6% compared to last year’s first quarter investments. Late-stage investments comprised the highest proportion of deals than at any point since 2010, with 75.2% of all investment dollars allocated to this investment stage. Despite this drop in the share of total investment, angel/seed and early-stage investment remained robust.  

The trend toward ever larger deals continues, with median and average deal sizes for angel/seed, early-, and late-stage investments last quarter all higher than their respective annual counterparts for 2020. The 722 first financings reported is a historically low figure, but the associated $4.7 million per deal is among the highest quarterly figures on record. At the other end of the spectrum, 167 mega-deals ($100 million+) accounting for some $41.7 billion closed in Q1. For context, mega-deals accounted for 阿$76.6 billion raised during all of last year.