As far as the Bay Area's venture scene goes, the New Year is continuing to have a slow start.
At midweek, just five of the region's startups announced new funding deals. All told, the companies raised only $200 million combined. That continues a national trend. In terms of the number of deals and the amount invested, last year was the second best year ever for the U.S. venture industry, trailing only the gonzo year of 2021. But venture funding was down 37% to $198.4 billion from the prior year and the number of deals was off 7% to 12,141, according to aWorse, there was a fairly steady drop each quarter last year in both deals and money invested. In the fourth quarter, venture outfits invested $31.
What's more, last quarter's tallies for both deals and amount invested were the lowest for a three-month period since the second quarter of 2020, according to the report.