U.S. venture capital firms invested a record $131 billion in 8,948 transactions in 2018, a 58% increase in dollar terms but a 6% decrease in the number of deals, according to data released Thursday in the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.
Last year marked the most capital ever invested by venture capital firms. The previous record was in 2000, the year the dot-com bubble burst, when U.S. venture capital firms invested $105 billion in companies.
Almost half of the 2018 money, 47%, was invested in late-stage, megadeals valued at $100 million or more, which amounted to $61.1 billion in 198 transactions in 2018. This is a 148% increase in late-stage, megadeal value from the $24.6 billion invested in 104 megadeals in 2017.
At the same time, U.S. venture capital firms had fewer exits: 864 in 2018, down from 885 the previous year. However, total exit value increased to $122 billion in 2018 from $92 billion in 2017.
