Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures were the most-active U.S. investors leading Series A and B rounds globally in the first half of 2024. The three topped a list of 13 investors that made seven or more early-stage investments.
We found that the majority of the more active investors listed above increased their pace from a year earlier, an indication that the venture markets could be picking up.
Of the three busiest investors, Khosla Ventures picked up the pace more dramatically compared to the first half of 2023, leading Series B rounds in geologic hydrogen service Koloma, autonomous driving truck service Waabi (co-led with Uber), and radiology report writing automation startup Rad AI.
Andreessen was one of the leading investors to lead fewer Series A and Series B rounds when compared to a year earlier. However, Andreessen still tops the leaderboard this year. The firm has also been one of the more active multistage venture investors since the second half of 2022 when venture funding slowed, based on an analysis of Crunchbase data.
Led amounts
Looking at the same investors by amounts led at Series A and B, we find a big range. Arch Venture Partners, a life sciences-focused investor tops the list with $1.9 billion invested in rounds it led or co-led. Arch co-led the $1 billion funding with Foresite Capital in AI drug discovery company Xiara Therapeutics.
General Catalyst, which led rounds reaching $1 billion in the first half, co-led the round in Mistral with DST Global. It also led the Series B in Collaborative Robotics, which is building robots that work alongside humans.
Andreessen co-led the Series B in AI voice software developer ElevenLabs with angel investors Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. The firm also led the Series A in text-to-image generative AI company Ideogram.
Healthcare and AI lead
The increase in funding at Series A and B in the U.S. in H1 2024 was concentrated in larger bets, and in two leading industries, healthcare/biotech and AI, according to an analysis of Crunchbase data.
These two industries stood out across these 125 Series A and B investments led by these active firms. AI-related companies represented 40% of companies and healthcare/biotech around 25%. Other notable sectors were financial services companies, with 13% of investments, and hardware, with around 11%.
Off peak
When we look back at the most active leads at Series A and B rounds in H1 2022, the peak for Series A and B counts led by a U.S. investor, we find a very different picture. Tiger Global led or co-led 100 rounds at this stage, while Insight Partners led 75 on a global basis. Fast-forward to H1 2024 and Tiger Global led only one round in the first half of 2024, while Insight led six at Series A and B according to rounds disclosed in Crunchbase.
Seed to A
A more dynamic seed environment relative to other funding stages through the downturn, has raised questions about startups graduating beyond seed.
The pickup in Series A and B funding in H1 and the increased pace by leading investors is an indicator of a stronger venture market outlook moving forward.
Methodology
The data contained in this report comes directly from Crunchbase, and is based on reported data. Data reported is as of August 14, 2024.
Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity.
Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.
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Further reading:
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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