The Bay Area funding scene seems to have settled into a regular rhythm of late of famine then feast.
For the last month or so, Mondays have typically seen few funding announcements. But then the region's startups have usually announced a flurry of deals in the following days. Then the next Monday, pattern repeats.
The last week is a case in point. Last Monday, just one local company announced a new funding round. But five companies announced rounds at midweek and six at the end of the week.
Now, on another Monday, we're back to just one — a Series A announced by Mountain View's Capitola Insurance Services.
Of course, even the busy days aren't all that busy, at least compared with prior years. The end of last week, for example, saw six new deals announced. A year or two ago, the region might have seen two or three times that many funding rounds announced at the end of the week.
That drop-off appears to be of a piece with the dramatic decline in venture investment nationwide. In the first quarter, venture outfits invested $37 billion in U.S. startups, the lowest quarterly tally in 13 quarters, according to PitchBook Data and the National Venture Capital Association. They invested that amount in fewer than 3,000 deals, the first time the industry hasn't topped the 3,000 mark in five years.
Funding rounds
- Capitola Insurance Services LLC, Mountain View, $15.6 million, Series A: Munich Re Ventures led the round for this operator of an online marketplace for insurance brokers and carriers. Lightspeed Venture Partners also invested.
Funders in the news
- Founders Fund hired Joey Krug, Bloomberg reported. Prior to joining Peter Thiel's San Francisco venture firm, Krug was the chief investment officer at Pantera Captial, a Menlo Park venture outfit focused on cryptocurrency startups.
- Evercore Inc. hired Scott Silverglate as a senior managing director focused on industrial software companies, Bloomberg reported. After a nearly 10-year stint at Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Silverglate joined Silicon Valley Bank in February. Regulators seized SVB the following month. Evercore is a New York-based investment bank; Silvergate will work in its Menlo Park office, per Bloomberg.
- Patient Square Capital promoted Justin Sabet-Peyman to partner. Previously, Sabet-Peyman was a managing director with the Menlo Park venture firm.
