It’s not a bad year for startup fundraising. While venture totals are off sharply from records set last year, evidence is accumulating that 2022 is more of a return to an elevated baseline than a historic collapse.
According to a review of a Crunchbase dataset tracking funding for unicorn companies — private startups worth $1 billion or more as of their most recent funding round — it’s clear that investors are still paying amply for unicorn equity.
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A decline in total unicorn fundraising is not a surprise. As we explored earlier this week, late-stage rounds are shrinking. That’s generally where unicorns fall in the fundraising lifecycle, albeit with exceptions, meaning that if late-stage rounds are getting smaller, it makes sense that unicorns would raise less capital.
