Austin area startups raised $422 million across 53 venture capital deals. That's according to a report by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association that covers the fourth quarter of 2018.
The new figures extend an ongoing trend of bigger rounds for fewer companies. For example, in Q4 last year, Austin startups raised $245 million across 69 deals.
Throughout all of 2018, investors poured $1.5 billion into Austin area companies across 219 deals, the data shows.
Here are the top 10 Austin area funding rounds logged in the Q4 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report:
HNI Healthcare - $65 million Outdoorsy (moved from San Francisco to Austin last year) - $50 million Aceable - $47 million Good Money - $30 million Ambiq Micro - $29 million ClearDATA - $26 million Tecovas - $24 million Self Lender - $10.6 million Shipwell - $10 million ICON - $9 million
The top exits logged in the Austin area were Opcity's $210 million acquisition by News Corp subsidiary Move, Inc., recorded on Oct. 11, and Javelin Network's $25 million acquisition by Symantec Corp, which was logged on Nov. 5. Those were also the largest exits reported in the state of Texas.
It's tricky to get an all-inclusive snapshot of venture capital deals and exits because of nuances in how deals are reported and how different organizations and news outlets assemble data. That's why there are often significant variations from one analysis to the next.
It's also worth noting that venture deals fluctuate quarter to quarter -- with big time deals often giving one period a much higher funding figure. For example, PitchBook showed about $275 million in funding for Austin startups in Q3 of 2018. But the area showed $422 million raised in both Q1 and Q4.
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.”
