Changing priorities of investorsIn the late stages of a startup’s growth, expensive cash and a lack of big deals can leave many late-stage Web3 companies cash-strapped. And time is running out.
People already are. Pretend That’s what venture capitalists are used to, turning from crypto to AI on the hunt for the next big thing. For startups stuck in the passé category right now, it can’t feel good to look elsewhere for venture dollars, even though fluctuations in capital flows are common.
The exchange examines startups, markets and money.
Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get the Exchange newsletter every Saturday.
TechCrunch recently delved into venture capital data to understand how investor interest in Web3 companies is developing through 2023. We also sought to glean what we could from similar searches on AI-related startup fundraising.
What did we learn? The data suggests that Web3 companies are likely to raise private capital at a slightly slower rate than previously (perhaps as much as 80% if trends hold in Q1 2023). The picture for AI-related funding is a little less clear.
Like a glacial meltdown, there are so many good startups – in the Web 3 space and others – stuck between their final funding round, the price set during the transaction and the new market reality where investors don’t exist. They seem very interested in further funding their efforts.
We’ve touched on the subject before and recently asked how far from the cliff of death the unicorn is. Excitingly, we can bring together this morning our question about the terminal funding day for already richly valued startups and the genre focus of the venture market.
Recently, tech investor and founder Elad Gil wrote an interesting piece on the cash balances of companies that raised money in the last quarter of 2021-era Venture Zine:
