VC funding fell over 50% in Q1

 

Venture capital funding fell more than 50% in Q1 2023 compared to last year.   Globally, VCs invested $76B in startups from January to March, compared to the $162B invested during the same period in 2022. The decline is evident despite two large fundraising rounds announced earlier this year. Microsoft announced a $10B investment in OpenAI, and payments company Stripe raised $6.5B in the same quarter. If not for Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, Q1 2023 would have been the worst for venture investment in more than five years. According to Crunchbase, VCs had a record $580B in cash raised but not yet deployed at the end of Q1. Investors expect several startup failures as companies run out of cash.