Venture capital activity in the Seattle area has cooled since a record-crushing 2021 — but only slightly.
According to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor second-quarter report, there were 250 venture capital deals totaling $4.4 billion in the Seattle area this year through June 30. There were 494 deals worth $9.2 billion all last year in the area, and there were 118 deals totaling $1.6 billion during the first quarter of 2022.
"Several themes are playing out that VC investors and startup founders are closely monitoring to better navigate the length and impact of the industry correction as it trickles down from the public market slowdown, inflation concerns and the tightening monetary environment," the report read.
Seattle-based financial data firm PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) jointly produce the report. Seattle's deal value so far in 2022 was head of other growing tech hubs such as Denver ($3 billion) and Austin ($3.4 billion).
Seattle, however, still falls well behind established tech hubs like the Bay Area ($52.3 billion), New York ($19.8 billion) and Boston ($12.6 billion).
Nationally, the report noted there have been 9,421 venture capital deals worth $144.2 billion. Those numbers aren't keeping pace with 2021, when there were 17,637 deals totaling $341.5 billion, both of which were records.
This year should still surpass 2020 when there were 12,578 deals worth $167 billion. The deal value in 2020 had been a record before 2021 more than doubled it.
"A tighter investing environment means many VC investors are prioritizing existing portfolio companies (particularly those at the late stages) and how to support them through to profitability," the report read. "At the same time, more frequent news of layoffs at VC-backed companies is surfacing, and hiring is generally tightening. Many VC-backed companies are working to solidify balance sheets and focus on optimizing for cash to better position themselves in the downturn."
