VCs continue backing high priced deals in 1Q

Venture capitalists around the globe appeared to continue pouring money into high priced deals in the first quarter, according to market monitors PitchBook.

Globally $22.9 was invested, a 26 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago. With deal volume down by almost a quarter, deal size rose sharply. The median deal in the quarter was $3.5 million worldwide, up 67 percent, PitchBook found.

At the same time, pre-money valuations across deal stages jumped 84 percent to $28 million. Series C rounds had a median pre-money valuation of $85.3 million, while Series D transactions saw a median of $289.6 million, PitchBook said.

Here are the numbers: the first quarter’s $22.9 billion of worldwide investment fueled 1,894 deals. This compares with $18.2 billion and 2,495 deals in the first quarter of 2014. It was the second quarter in a row of falling deal count.

Sixty-four percent of the deals took place in North America and 21 percent in Europe.