Venture capitalists invested $1.04 billion across 128 deals in Illinois in 2016, the third straight year the state has recorded over a billion in VC, according to the recent MoneyTree Report from PwC and CB Insights. However, total investment dollars were down year-over-year, behind 2015's $1.11 billion and 2014's $1.34 billion.
Illinois mirrored a national trend, yet to a more palatable degree, with U.S. venture deals and dollars dropping 16% (4,520) and 20% ($58.6 billion), respectively in 2016. Globally, it was more of the same, with deals and dollars declining 10% and 23%, respectively last year compared to 2015.
"Despite continued deceleration in venture capital investment activity, the startup ecosystem remains flush with quality deals," reassured Tom Ciccolella, US Venture Capital Leader at PwC, in a statement. "As industries continue to be disrupted by technology and Internet capabilities, new opportunities are emerging. It’s these opportunities, despite the decline, that continue to drive venture capital momentum."
In Illinois, the ecosystem was anchored by several large to mid-size tech deals, including Civis Analytics' $22 million, Active Campaign's $20 million, Snapsheet's $20 million, and Swap.com's $20 million.
The state also saw $40 million total invested in seed-stage deals, the second-most seed investment Illinois has registered since 2000 and nearly $7 million more than the previous year. 2016's 128 deals were also 17 more than the previous year.
The best performing sectors in Illinois were 'Internet' with $653 million and 'Mobile and Telecommunications' with $170 million.
Quarterly, Illinois had $251 million invested across 34 deals in Q1, $364 million across 29 deals in Q2, $197 million across 26 deals in Q3, and $226 million across 39 deals in Q4. Q4's 39 deals is tied for the most deals-in-a-quarter since 2011.
For more information, please see the PricewaterhouseCooper and CB Insight year-end report here.
(Image via Wiki Commons)
