Dow Jones VentureSource 2Q’15 U.S. Venture Capital Report

The following report presents Dow Jones VentureSource’s quarterly findings for U.S. venture capital fundraising, investment, valuation, and liquidity. The included charts and graphs offer a comprehensive view of the trends currently affecting the venture capital market.

Highlights for 2Q 2015 include: 

• U.S. venture capital fundraising increased both in number of funds and amount invested; Venture capital investment into U.S. companies on the rise quarter-over-quarter ;
  Median pre-money valuation decreased 3% from 1Q 2015;
• Amounts raised through Initial public offerings (IPOs) went up, while mergers and acquisitions (M&As) experienced a decrease from the previous quarter.

FUNDRAISING 

Venture Fundraising Increases in U.S. during 2Q 2015 

• 86 funds garnered $12.9 billion in 2Q 2015, both an increase in the amount raised (51%) and increase in number of funds (23%) from the prior quarter.
• New Enterprise Associates 15 LP was the largest U.S. venture capital fund of 2Q 2015 raising almost $3.2 billion and accounting for 24% of the total amount raised during the quarter.
• Median U.S. fund size was $125 million in the first half of 2015.

U.S. Venture Investment in 2Q 2015 on the Rise 

• U.S.-based companies raised $19 billion in 1034 venture capital deals in 2Q 2015, a 15% rise in capital raised, with number of deals also experiencing an increase of 12% from the previous quarter.
• Compared to the same period in 2014, amount invested went up 24%, while number of deals experienced a minimal decrease.
• Business and Financial Services is the strongest sector with 30% share of total amount invested

FINANCING 

Equity Financings into U.S.-based, VC-backed Companies, by Industry Group (2Q 2015) 

• Business and Financial Services received the largest investment allocation during 2Q’15 (30%), accumulating almost $5.8 billion through 286 deals. The figures represent a respective increase of 48% and 20% from 1Q’15.
• The Consumer Services placed second in terms of equity financing, taking a 24% share of all 2Q’15 investment. 197 deals drew $4.7 billion, up 8% in capital raised.
• Healthcare ranked third with almost $3.9 billion in 195 deals, 1% lower from the previous quarter. The sector’s investment figure represents a 20% share of total equity investment into U.S. VC-backed companies for the quarter.
• $3.5 billion were raised by Information Technology (IT) in 273 deals, an increase of 16% in capital invested and 5% in deal flow.

LIQUIDITY 

U.S. VC-backed IPOs (2012-2015) 

• 27 venture-backed companies raised $2.5 billion through public offerings in 2Q 2015. Number of deals increased by 125% and capital raised more than tripled the amount from the previous quarter ($912 million).
• The largest IPO of the quarter was FitBit Inc. (NYSE: FIT), which completed a $732 million IPO.