The venture capital industry faced major headwinds in 2023, with 27% of portfolio companies — a historic high — receiving funding at lower valuations than their prior round of financing, a new Preqin report found.
The surge in so-called down rounds landscape saw a sharp increase in those down rounds, reaching a striking 27%, according to the venture capital report that tracked 2017-23 data.
A third (33%) of the down rounds were software companies, followed by other at 31% and biotechnology with 13%.
Global venture capital fundraising also continued its downward trend, with $115 billion raised in 2023, the lowest total capital raised since 2015.