Venture capital firms invested $15.3 billion in 961 deals in the second quarter, up 20% in total investments from the first quarter but 5% lower than the number of deals made that quarter, according to the MoneyTree Report by the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers based on data from Thomson Reuters.
By comparison, the amount invested and the number of deals are both lower than in the second quarter of 2015, when venture capital firms invested $17.4 billion on 1,231 deals.
The second-quarter numbers were boosted by two deals of $1 billion or more: a $3.5 billion investment by undisclosed investors in Uber Technologies and $1.3 billion, also from undisclosed investors, in Snapchat.
The advent of the megadeal — venture capital transactions of $100 million or more — started in 2014, said Tom Ciccolella, U.S. venture capital leader in the San Jose, Calif., office of PwC.
There have been at least 10 megadeals per quarter over the past 2½ years, Mr. Ciccolella said.
Larger venture capital deals “seem to be part of the ecosystem, but only time will tell” whether this is a permanent change, Mr. Ciccolella said.
“These (mega) deals are replacing traditional exits” like initial public offerings, he said.