Dashboard: U.S. venture takes summer vacation in July

Fundraising (value down 53%)

Fundraising for U.S.-based venture firms dipped, collecting just $2.4 billion in July, down from nearly $5.2 billion in June. Thrive Capital Partners led the way for the month by pooling $700 million for its fifth flagship fund. Bain Capital Venture Partners followed by amassing $600 million for its latest fund.

Deals (value down 61%)

Deal activity seems to be taking an early summer vacation, dropping to $2.5 billion in July, compared with June’s $6.4 billion. Deal count also dropped to 207 from 251. The top deal of the month was interactive development platform, Unity Technologies, raising $181 million in equity.  Following that was ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc, a biopharmaceutical developer of cancer therapeutics, receiving $120 million in financing.

M&A (value down 92%)

After the Stemcentrx acquisition inflated the exit total in June, venture-backed M&A value fell off a cliff. It dropped to $775 million in July, compared with the $10 billion aggregated in June. There were 14 U.S.-based companies that were acquired in July, and half of those divulged their financials. The top deal was Sequent Medical Inc being acquired by Terumo Corp for $380 million.

IPO (value down 52%)

The number of VC-backed IPOs on U.S. exchanges dropped to three in July, compared with six in June, with the proceeds falling to $240 million from about $460 million. Impinj Inc was the largest of July’s U.S.-based offerings, going public for $77 million. Next up was Audentes Therapeutics Inc, hitting the market for $75 million.

Based on Thomson Reuters data

Photo of financial bar diagram with red arrow down courtesy of ©iStock/borzaya

Red down arrows designed by Janet Yuen for VCJ