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Venture capital fundraising fell to a six-year low in 2024. Worldwide, 865 VC funds raised a combined $104.7 billion last year, down from 1,029 funds that raised a combined $128 billion in 2023, according to exclusive research by Venture Capital Journal. The amount raised in 2024 fell 18 percent from the previous year, while the number of funds declined by 16 percent.
The poor showing was to be expected, as managers have been struggling throughout the year to close on new funds due to lack of distributions from their previous efforts. It is too early to predict how 2025 will turn out, but investors appear to be more bullish than they have been in a while. In VCJ’s annual survey of institutional investors, 33 percent said they plan to invest “more” in venture funds in the next 12 months, a significant increase from just 20 percent who said that in the prior year’s survey. Also, just 12 percent of investors said they plan to invest “less” in VC in the next 12 months, a major improvement from the previous year, when 33 percent said they would cut back.
It is important to note that the slowdown in venture fundraising mirrors a fundraising downturn for the broader private equity market. PE funds, including buyout, growth equity and VC vehicles, raised a combined $746.48 billion in 2024, down 18 percent from $911.85 billion in 2023, according to affiliate title Private Equity International. It was the smallest haul in four years and not much more than the amount raised during the pandemic, PEI reported.
Average hits new high
With fewer funds being raised, the average fund size hit an all-time high of $155.1 million in 2024, up 10 percent from $141.5 million in 2023. The previous high was set in 2022, when the average fund totaled $154.8 million.
North America leads
Of the nearly $105 billion raised worldwide in 2024, 52 percent was for funds focused on North America. Multi-region funds captured 19 percent of the total, followed by Asia-Pacific (15 percent), Europe (13 percent) and the rest of the world (1 percent). Funds targeting the Middle East/North Africa accounted for the bulk of the rest-of-the-world amount ($800 million), with Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa funds collecting $200 million and $100 million, respectively.
Multi-region funds saw the biggest decline compared to the previous year, when they accounted for 26 percent of the total capital raised. Asia-Pacific funds bounced back after capturing just 11 percent of the total in 2023 due to political tension between the US and China.
Strong appetite
As a group, venture funds in market are seeking $248.6 billion, slightly more than they were targeting a year earlier. Funds focused on North America are trying to raise the most capital, $127.3 billion, or 51 percent of the total. Asia-Pacific-focused funds are aiming for $51.8 billion (21 percent of the pie), multi-regional funds are targeting $35.8 billion (14 percent), Europe-focused funds are looking for $25.1 billion (10 percent), MENA-focused funds are shooting for $4.2 billion (2 percent), Latin America-focused funds are seeking $3.2 billion (1 percent) and Sub-Saharan Africa-focused funds are in pursuit of $1.2 billion (less than 1 percent).
Top 10 fundraisers
Twenty funds raised $1 billion or more last year, with the top 20 funds pulling in a combined $26.7 billion. The 10 largest funds captured $19.2 billion, led by Norwest Venture Partners and Arch Venture Partners, which each raised $3 billion for their 17th and 13th flagship vehicles, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 are Flagship Pioneering ($2.6 billion for Flagship Pioneering Fund VIII), HongShan Capital Group ($2.5 billion for HongShan RMB Fund), General Catalyst Partners ($1.5 billion for General Catalyst Group XII – Creation), Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between Temasek and BlackRock, ($1.4 billion for its debut), Beijing Xiaomi Enterprise Management ($1.39 billion for Beijing Xiaomi Intelligent Manufacturing Equity Investment Fund), Forbion ($1.3 billion for Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund III), Pantera Capital ($1.27 billion for Pantera Blockchain Fund) and Andreessen Horowitz ($1.25 billion for Andreessen Horowitz Fund IX – AI Infrastructure).
Check out our interactive fundraising report above for the full breakdown of fundraising activity in 2023. You can download the data in Excel here.
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