Year in Review: Valuations continue to rise in angel deals

Late and expansion-stage venture capital valuations have come under pressure recently, but not those in angel deals, according to a new report.

The median pre-money valuation in U.S.-based angel transactions set an all time record of $4 million in the first nine months of the year, the Halo Report found. That’s up by one-third compared with the $3 million in 2014.

Meanwhile, deals involving just angels saw their average round size jump, too, to $725,000 in the third quarter, the report found. That’s a rise from $500,000 in the second quarter, or an increase of 45 percent.

When angels invested alongside VCs and other investors, the increase was a more modest 10 percent.

The rising valuations are something of a surprise given the pressure that Series B round and late-stage valuations have come under as GPs reassess big money unicorn deals. Even institutional seed rounds appear to have flattened in many cases.

Should the angel market trend continues, it would prove a striking contrast.

In the third quarter, investing in healthcare services and systems was strong.

The Halo Report, put together by the Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University and sponsored by PitchBook, surveys activity at angel groups. The third quarter report looked at 7,261 deals.

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