St. Louis startups raised more than $250 million in investment in the third quarter, making it one of the strongest quarters in recent years for venture capital funding here.
A new report published Thursday by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association tracked 11 St. Louis startup deals totaling $256.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That’s the highest total of funding in a single quarter since local firms raised $302.7 million in the third quarter of 2018, according to Pitchbook’s data. The quarter was also the second within the last year in which St. Louis startups have snagged more than $250 million in funding.
The strong funding totals for St. Louis firms in the recent quarter was anchored by the $172 million Series B funding round announced in July by biotechnology startup Wugen. The financing for Wugen, which is developing cancer-fighting therapies, marked one of the largest equity funding rounds ever completed by a St. Louis-based company.
Other major local fundings in the third quarter included a $37.5 million Series B round for software startup Balto and $30 million in Series A funding for cybersecurity company Rezilion.
So far in 2021, St. Louis startups have raised $374.9 across 44 deals, according to the report’s data. Including the fourth quarter of 2020, investment locally has reached $627.8 million in the past year. The strong investment tally for St. Louis startups comes after deal flow locally softened in the second and third quarters of 2020 after the emergence of Covid-19. However, venture capital investment has roared back both locally and nationally.
Nationwide, Pitchbook’s report counted $82.8 billion in startup funding in the third quarter. That brings the yearly total to $238.7 billion and marks a “similarly strong performance” compared with the first half of 2021, Pitchbook said.
“Eighteen months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the VC industry has continued to prove its resiliency while also directly supporting the country’s economic recovery and strengthening public markets,” the report said.
It’s not just funding totals that are soaring. Startup backers are also cashing in on their investment at record rates.
“$187.2 billion in exit value was realized in Q3, contributing to a total of $582.5 billion YTD — already 101.6% higher than 2020’s record of $289 billion. IPOs are having a blockbuster year with 221 occurring year-to-date,” according to the report.
