Softening to pre-2013
surge has, of course, also helped lead
to increased natural competition and
rising investment sizes and valuations.
Even with the recent slide, it should be
noted that the decline left 1Q tallies
around pre-2013 levels. Angels are
likely to have been spooked as much
as anyone else over the past several
months, but syndication and healthy
economic signals in the U.S. could
encourage them to resume investing,
albeit at lower levels. By all accounts,
U.S. angel & seed VC
activity
The impact of angel syndicates
cannot be emphasized enough when
looking at the below datasets. Groups
of angels and Angel List syndicates
have proliferated in the past few
years, ramping up primarily localized
activity by a significant degree. The
institutional seed investors are set to
remain quite active, looking to deploy
the hoard of capital accumulated over
the past few years as the pre-seed and
seed financing markets broadened in
tandem with their institutional investor
base. All in all, activity at the angel and
seed stages should remain subdued,
as befits an increase in risk aversion
going forward. Yet investment does
not appear likely to further drop
dramatically.
U.S. angel & seed activity
Deal value ($M)
1,289
1,208
1,148
1,193 1,217
1,043
1,079
1,182
1,061
1,031
959
918
1,029
# of deals closed
Source: PitchBook
884
$1,697
$1,972
$2,088
$2,199
$1,991
$1,874
$2,505
$1,380
$1,203
$961
$921
$802
$931
$809
$741
$657
$522
$537
$606
$646
$342
$394
$420
357 396 409
$1,508
411
768
614
562 588
$1,154
666
805 798
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
0%
0%
Under $500K
$500K-$1M
$1M-$5M
$5M+
Under $500K
Source: PitchBook
*As of 3/31/2016
6
P I TC H B O O K 1 Q 201 6 U. S . V E N T U R E I N D U S T RY R E P O R T
$500K-$1M
$1M-$5M
2015
10%
2014
10%
2013
20%
2012
20%
2011
30%
2010
30%
2009
40%
2008
40%
2007
50%
2006
50%
2016*
60%
2015
60%
2014
70%
2013
70%
2012
80%
2011
80%
2010
90%
2009
90%
2008
100%
2007
100%
2006
Investors are still finding reasons to pay up
U.S. angel & seed activity (#) by round size
But there was somewhat of a reversion toward the
$1M-$5M range, as opposed to $5M+
U.S. angel & seed activity ($M) by round size
2016*
2010
$5M+
Source: PitchBook
*As of 3/31/2016