The Seattle area continues to land major venture capital dollars.
According to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor third quarter report, startups in the Seattle area secured $1.6 billion in venture capital across 95 deals in the third quarter. The report, jointly produced by the Seattle-based financial data firm PitchBook Data and the National Venture Capital Association, called the overall venture capital industry a "mixed picture" in the third quarter.
"Q3 can provide reasons for optimism or pessimism, depending on where the viewer is looking," the report read. "Investors report that they are making deals, and there is a consensus between managers and founders on how to prepare for potential challenges ahead. The market is also becoming increasingly consolidated and realizing fewer exits than at any time in recent history."
The deal value in the Seattle area trails that of major tech hubs like the Bay Area ($11.8 billion for the quarter), Los Angeles ($7.1 billion) and New York ($5.7 billion), according to the report. Still, the area outpaced growing tech hubs like Denver ($1.1 billion) and Austin ($701 million).
Nationally, PitchBook and the NVCA estimated there were 4,074 deals in the third quarter, totaling $43 billion. This year has already surpassed all years except 2021 in terms of venture capital deal value nationally. As of Sept. 30, U.S. startups have landed 11,871 deals worth a total of $194.9 billion. Deal value for all of last year was $343.6 billion, while deal value for all of 2020, which had been a record year at the time, was $168.7 billion.
The report also noted the importance of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, major U.S. government investments in technology, infrastructure and renewable energy. The largest venture capital rounds in the Seattle area so far in 2022 have gone to renewable energy companies. Battery technology company Group14, for example, secured $400 million in May, while Bill Gates' nuclear power company TerraPower secured $750 million in August.
"These acts create an environment for private fund managers to partner with the public sector and academia and develop more-robust entrepreneurial ecosystems outside of traditional hot spots," the report read.
