Venture capitalists are scaling back on investments, and the average deal size is dwindling, as recent research reveals. In the realm of cryptocurrency startups, funding has regressed to levels reminiscent of the fourth quarter of 2020 amidst the ongoing bearish market sentiment. According to a report dated October 5th by Messari, a blockchain analytics firm, crypto startups managed to raise a total of $2.1 billion across 297 deals in the third quarter of 2023. This marks a stark decline of 36% from the preceding quarter and a staggering 70% drop from the same period in 2022. The category of seed funding emerged as the primary avenue for raising capital, with a staggering $488 million amassed through 98 deals. Researchers noted a substantial shift in deal dynamics, with a clear pivot towards early-stage projects over the past three years, and a mere 1.4% of deals involved companies at the Series B stage or beyond. Unforgiving market conditions are compelling projects to seek short-term bridge financing or, in some cases, opt for acquisition by larger enterprises. Despite the backdrop of regulatory ambiguity, it’s noteworthy that more than half, precisely 54%, of all active venture capital investors hail from the United States, surpassing the combined number from the rest of the world. Investor preferences have also undergone a transformation, shifting from consumer-oriented applications to the bedrock of blockchain infrastructure. The latter consistently outperformed the former in terms of securing funding over the past three months. Nevertheless, this trend may be transient, as a growing number of investors are coming to realize that the absence of successful, consumer-centric crypto applications may hinder infrastructure investments from yielding the desired returns, as underscored by researchers.
