The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 3Q23
Early-stage venture performance provided cause for optimism in 3Q23.
Oct 18, 2023 — 2 min read
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- 3Q23 early-stage venture performance trended in a positive direction, providing founders reason for cautious optimism after several quarters of negative growth.
- Of particular note was a sharp increase in investment activity rate, signaling a greater willingness by VCs to re-enter the market.
- This increase in investor demand was reflected in median valuations, which trended upward in 3Q23 amongst startups that raised a round.
- Founders responded to the livelier fundraising environment with increased spend in 3Q23. Much of this spend was concentrated around marketing and AI tools.
- Read all our findings in our 3Q23 State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups report, produced in collaboration with Ramp.
For the first time in awhile, early-stage venture performance (which AngelList defines as activity rate and positive activity rate) trended in a positive direction in 3Q23. Activity rate, in particular, returned to levels more in-line with historical norms, while positive activity (i.e., markups), increased modestly—likely due to the increase in investor demand.
This increase in investor demand was reflected in the median valuations of startups that raised on AngelList in 3Q23, which increased across most stages after several quarters of decline. Our data also revealed an unprecedented level of demand for AI / ML startups in 3Q23. Investments into these startups are likely responsible for many of the positive performance trends we observed in 3Q23.
While 3Q23 was a step in the right direction for the early-stage startup ecosystem, it’s worth noting that 3Q23 was by no means a “good” quarter for early-stage startups. For context, this past quarter’s performance was roughly on par with 3Q22 (which, at the time, we referred to as a “downward spiral”) and the pandemic panic of 2Q20. However, coming on the heels of a quarter we dubbed the “worst quarter ever” for early-stage startups, the positive developments observed this quarter offer reason for cautious optimism amongst founders.
This quarter, for the first time ever, we partnered with the finance automation platform Ramp to share their proprietary data on startup spending activity. Taken together, our combined datasets offer unprecedented and timely access into how capital flowed into and out of startups in 3Q23. Key datapoints in this quarter’s report include:
- Markups
- Investment activity
- Average valuations
- Median valuations
- Most popular early-stage markets
- Funding to female founders
- Most popular investment instruments
- Investment volume by round
- Average startup card spend
- Average startup advertising spend
- Average startup travel spend
- Top merchants
- AI spend
- Avg. no. of countries transacted in per quarter
- Startup formation by locale
The State of U.S. Early Stage Venture & Startups: 3Q23
Disclaimer
All data referenced in this material is current as of 10/1/23, unless otherwise mentioned. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision and does not constitute an offer of any kind. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. We undertake no obligations to update them in the future. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.
