NEW YORK,
April 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Venture Capital (VC) investment in the U.S. continued performing at a high level during Q1 '19 with
$32.6 billion
invested as the U.S. economy remained strong, and increased IPO activity set the stage for further investment at all points of the deal spectrum -- from early stage to late stage, according to KPMG's Venture Pulse Q1' 2019 report. The largest deals in Q1'19 included a$5 billion
raise by shared-space provider The We Company (formerly WeWork), and a$1 billion
raise by freight logistics company Flexport – earning that company coveted unicorn status. "In the past five years, the number of U.S. unicorns has more than doubled to over 160 as private capital is readily available allowing companies to stay private longer," saidBrian Hughes
, National Co-leader, KPMG Venture Capital practice in the U.S. "We finally saw some unicorns choosing to go public in late 2018, and this unicorn IPO trend is expected to continue well into this year, spurred by recent high profile offerings and the ongoing strength of the public markets." Lyft hosted a successful IPO on Nasdaq in late March, raising$2.3 billion
to value the company at$24 billion
. It is the first in a line of large IPO unicorns expected in 2019, with ride-hailing company Uber also expected to file publicly, amongst others. The good performance of these unicorn companies in the early part of 2019 will trigger more investor interest in mature unicorns later in the year, in addition to providing additional capital for early stage deals.U.S. investors continued to invest in established verticals in Q1'19, including food-delivery, healthcare and transportation, while mega-funds gained a significant amount of attention, coupled with strong activity in smaller-size funds.
Growth and Innovation Occurring Beyond Silicon Valley
New York
,Boston
and others –a trend continuing this year. In Q1'19,New York
andNew Jersey
both attracted big deals, such as The We Company's$5 billion
raise, and Knock's$400 million
raise. Among companies headquartered in Silicon Valley, there has been a shift toward scaling outside of the Valley in order to access or attract talent and better manage labor and space costs. Late in 2018, for example, Slack announced a newDenver Office
, while other companies set up offices inArizona
,Salt Lake City
and beyond. This trend is only expected to continue as companies look to balance a presence in the Valley with the need to scale and grow efficiently.Digital Banking Heats Up
$200 million
raise earned it unicorn status, with a number of non-U.S.-based banks voicing plans to raise capital to fund a U.S. expansion.The U.S. is well positioned for growth
$34 billion
deal. "The story in the U.S. continues to be very positive. The 2018 IPOs generally performed very well and the pre-public companies that have completed financings recently have been at high valuations," saidConor Moore
, National Co-Lead Partner, KPMG Venture Capital practice in the U.S. "This should encourage greater investment at all points on the investment spectrum from seed to late stage."