Dashboard: Fundraising dips slightly in January as M&A soars

Fundraising (value down 14%)

Fundraising for U.S.-based venture firms dropped in January, as firms racked up $2.05 billion in the month compared with December’s $2.39 billion. Mithril Capital Management led the way in January, collecting $740 million for its second flagship fund. Venrock came in second, pooling $450 million for Venrock 8.

Deals (value down 23%)

The year started off on a sluggish note for deal making, as the value dropped by almost a quarter from December to January, down to $3.3 billion from $4.3 billion. The deal count fell to 217 in January compared with 339 in December. The top deal of the month was for enterprise software testing provider Tricentis, garnering $190 million in equity. Following that was Proterra, maker of battery-electric buses, which received $140 million in financing.

M&A (value up 260%)

Venture-backed M&A nearly quadrupled as it rose to $2.3 billion in January, compared with $649 million in December. A total of 25 companies backed by U.S. firms were acquired, with three disclosing their financials. Although Cisco announced a $3.7 billion purchase of Appdynamics, the top deal completed in January was Squaretrade’s sale to Allstate Corp. for $1.4 billion.

IPO (value up n/a)

The number of VC-backed IPOs rose to three in January, from none in December. The top IPO in the first month of the year was Jounce Therapeutics, with nearly $102 million worth of shares sold. Combined, the three IPOs raised about $280 million in proceeds in the month.

Source: Based on Thomson Reuters data

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