Low value deals (investment of less the $10-million) continued to dominate venture capital (VC) investments throughout the first quarter (Q1) of 2019.
The share of such deals also registered consistent growth during the period, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.
VC deals with value up to US$10m accounted for 75,5% share of total deal volume in Q1 2019. In total, 3 221 deals with value up to $10-million took place during the period. In contrast, deals valued more than $100-million accounted for 2,2% of the total volume.
The share of low value deals grew from 74,7% in January to 75,9% in February and 76% in March. Within low value deals, the highest number of deals was executed in the range of $1-million to $5-million during Q1 2019. All three months also registered the highest number of deals in this range.
A total of 1 437 deals were announced in January. The month witnessed announcements of 1 073 deals with deal value up to $10-million. Out of this, 471 deals were in the range of $1-million to $5-million. January also witnessed 33 deals valued more than $100-million, which was the highest among the three months. Though these deals collectively accounted for just 2,3% of the total deal volume, they contributed towards 36,3% of the total deal value in January.
Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in January included $920-million raised by Indonesia-based PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (GO-JEK) and $500-million funding in the US-based Clover Health.
Overall deal volume witnessed a decline of 8,4% in February 2019 as compared to the previous month. In total, 1 000 VC deals with deal value up to US$10m were announced in February. Within these deals, 420 deals were valued between $1-million to $5-million range. February also witnessed 29 deals valued more than $100-million, which collectively accounted for 2,2% of the total deal volume and 46,2% of the total deal value.
Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in February included $1,5-billion funding in Chinese online car trading platform Chehaoduo (Guazi.com) and $1-billion raised by the US-based Flexport.
March witnessed the highest number of deals. Deal volume increased by 14,7% compared to the previous month. In total, 1 510 deals were announced during in March, out of which 1 148 were low value deals and 490 deals were announced with value ranging between $1-million to $5-million. March also witnessed 31 deals valued more than $100-million. Though these deals accounted for just 2,1% of the total deal volume, they contributed towards 40,5% of the total deal value in March.
Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in March included $1,5-billion raised by Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab and $1,3-billion funding in the UK-based OneWeb.