As we (slowly) roll into 2023, data is showing just how much the venture capital industry has slowed down in two years.
Absent some looming high-profile fundraises from companies like OpenAI, whose ChatGPT tool may reportedly help Microsoft’s Bing take on Google, many startups have struggled to garner the interest founders had become accustomed to the last couple years, or are having to sign off on less-favorable terms. Down rounds, while still few and far between, are still taking place, including at Instacart, which has reportedly cut its valuation to around $10 billion, according to The Information, down from the grocery delivery company’s heaping $39 billion valuation in 2021. CapitalG partner Sumi Das told me last month that he believes “almost all the later-stage companies” that were pre-IPO were thinking about docking their own valuations.
