Venture Capital 3Q 2015: US at $19bn; China $14bn; Europe €3bn
Venture Capital investments in 3Q 2015 tracked by Dow Jones VentureSource, a sister company of The Wall Street Journal show that US firms raised $19bn, Chinese firms raised $14bn and European firms raised €3bn.
US based firms raised $19bn in 191 deals in the quarter — a 3% rise in capital compared with the second quarter and a 11% dip in deals.
Compared with Q3 2014, capital invested jumped 68% while the number of deals fell 5%. Business and Financial Services was the biggest category with a 28% share. Consumer Services accounted for a 26% share or $5bn.
12 venture capital (VC)-backed companies raised almost $1.6bn through initial public offerings (IPO). The number of deals fell 56% and the capital raised dipped 37% from $2.5bn.
SunRun was the biggest and listed on Nasdaq, raising $244m.
Chinese firm investments reached a record since VentureSource began tracking them in 2006. $14bn was raised in 413 deals in the quarter — a rise of 39% in capital invested and 8% in deals since 2Q.
Compared with 3Q 2014, the rise in dollars invested more than tripled while deal flow increased by 40%.
Consumer Services were the most popular category in 3Q in attracting investment of $10bn while IT raised $1.7bn. 2 VC-backed IPOs occurred and both deal numbers and dollars raised plunged 96%.
The largest listing was by Harmonicare Medical Holdings in Hong Kong and it raised $187m.
European companies raised over €3bn for 355 deals during 3Q 2015, a minimal increase in the amount raised from 2Q 2015 despite a 5% slide in the number of deals completed.
In contrast with the year ago period, both investment and number of completed deals improved, respectively by 31% and 1%. Consumer Services (€935m) was the strongest sector of the quarter in terms of attracting investment followed by Healthcare (€929m).
The United Kingdom was the most favoured destination for equity financing during 3Q 2015, receiving €947m across 87 deals. The country took 31% of all equity financing for the quarter, despite a 9% decrease in deal flow from 2Q 2015. France placed second, attracting a 19% share of European financing. Investment reached a total €567m, a 29% rise in capital invested, despite a 22% drop in number of deals.
Germany occupies third position raising €428m, 14% of the total for the quarter. Switzerland placed fourth with a 6% share, raising €194m during 3Q 2015.
8 VC-backed IPOs took place during 3Q 2015, a fall in number of deals both to the prior quarter and the previous year. IPOs raised almost €700m during 3Q 2015, an increase of 31% from the €533m raised in 2Q 2015.
VC-backed companies also raised an higher amount through IPOs when compared with the year ago period (€ 447m). The largest European VC-backed IPO of 3Q 2015 was the Flow Traders listing in July. The company raised €521m for its offering on the Amsterdam Exchange Index.
Most global tech startup exits have no venture capital funding
Reality check on tech unicorns losing magical allure
In Monday's FT John Thornhill, deputy editor, (link is broken) says that a report by GP Bullhound, a British investment bank, identified 40 European start-ups valued at $1bn or more — so-called unicorns — in 2014, compared with 30 a year earlier. The UK — which has emerged as a centre for fintech — leads with 17 unicorns, with six in Sweden and four in Germany.
He says Europe’s challenge is to expand such promising $1bn start-ups into $10bn companies and establish new global platforms. There is a long way to go. In June, the combined value of Europe’s 40 unicorns came to about $120bn, less than half the current market value of Facebook. According to a study by CBInsights, only one European unicorn (Spotify) ranks in the top 20 most valuable start-ups in the world, compared with 12 from the US and five from China.