Note: This story has been edited to reflect Georgia companies overall raised about $1.15 billion over 120 deals. Atlanta-area companies raised $1.13 billion over 115 deals.
2018 went out with a bang for Atlanta area startups, which raised $624.85 million across 35 venture capital deals in Q4.
According to a report by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association that covers the fourth quarter of 2018, we blew this quarter out of the water compared to last year, with $71.52 million from 22 deals in Q4'17. This highlights a trend we've seen across the country, with larger dollar amounts for fewer deals each year.
For the entire year, speculators invested around $1.15 billion into Georgia companies across 120 deals.
Here are the top 10 Atlanta area deals included in the Q4 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report:
- Bakkt – $182.5 million
- Rubicon Global – $126.60 million
- Pindrop Security – $90 million
- Surterra Wellness – $54.63 million
- Antios Therapeutics – $25 million
- Oncology Analytics – $21 million
- Flock Group – $19.59 million
- Springbot – $15 million
- MemberSuite – $11.25 million
- AVOXI – $10 million
The top exits for Atlanta and the state for that matter were Cartiva's $435 million buy from Wright Medical on Oct. 10 for and Liaison's $310 million acquisition by OpenText on on Dec. 18.
We don't always get the full overlook of venture capital deals and exits in these data logs, simply because of how deals are reported and how different organizations amass data can be tricky. This is why we find significant differences from one analysis to the next.
For instance, Pitchbook's data fails to include in its list of top Q4 Atlanta deals startup Deputy, a workforce management software program based in Atlanta and Sydney, Australia, which closed a $81 million round in November.
In addition, venture deals can fluctuate quarter to quarter---with major deals significantly changing the funding figure of a period. For example, while PitchBook showed $626.85 million in funding for Atlanta startups in Q4, the area also raised about $479.5 million for Q2 and Q3 combined.
National Stats
Over all of 2018, more than $130 billion was invested. That’s the most since the peak of the dot-com boom. And mega-deals are a driving force. The report shows there were about 200 $100 million-plus funding rounds that accounted for $61 billion in total capital infusion.
Exits were strong, too. The report shows a 33 percent increase in mergers, acquisitions and IPOs. That’s about $120 billion in new money — the most since 2012. And VCs aren’t slowing down. In 2018, 256 funds raised new money, bringing $55.5 billion in fundraising to fuel future deals. That’s an all-time high.
PitchBook said 2019 will likely have even more mega-deals, continuing a trend of more money invested across fewer deals. But record numbers raise their own set of questions for investors and startups.
“Some GPs and LPs have already expressed concern that excess capital has led to inflated round sizes and valuations,” John Gabbert, CEO of PitchBook, said in a news release. “In the event of any adjustments in the global economic or political backdrop, valuations may see a correction from their currently elevated levels, but private market investment activity will likely continue unabated. VCs will still have an immense trove of capital to invest.”
