Venture capitalists stepped up their bets in the technology, biotech, healthcare and fintech sectors, announcing a record 17,054 deals during the year.
It was also the best year ever for venture capital fundraising, which reached $128.3 billion for 730 funds. This figure, which crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time, is $40 billion higher than the previous record of 2020.
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Last year’s biggest fundraisers included cryptocurrency firm FTX Trading, which was valued at $25 billion in October, and AI platform Databricks, which reached a valuation of $38 billion. in August, which each raised $1 billion.
The frenetic pace of fundraising is expected to continue this year as venture capitalists’ liquidity remains at an all-time high and returns outpace all other asset classes, the report adds.
Venture capital-backed companies that went public or were acquired generated outflows worth $774.1 billion in 2021, nearly 88% of which were realized through public listings. As the US initial public offering (IPO) market continued to grow, special purpose acquisition companies offered a viable alternative to IPOs, despite tightening regulations.