It’s more than a feeling. In keeping with new knowledge popping out from the analysis agency Pitchbook and the Nationwide Enterprise Capital Affiliation, enterprise companies are elevating — and deploying — rather a lot much less cash than in recent times.

What to know: total deal depend within the U.S. has fallen greater than 25% between the primary quarter of final 12 months and this 12 months. Lower than 3,000 offers had been closed between the beginning of the 12 months and the top of March, which doesn’t sound so horrible till you notice issues haven’t been so sluggish, comparatively, since 2018 (see chart beneath).

Late-stage deal worth additionally dropped like a boulder within the first quarter. Whereas it’s apparent from current headlines that the period of the “mega round” has come and gone (for now), it’s one thing else to learn that late-stage values have declined for the seventh straight quarter to $11.6 billion, in response to Pitchbook and the NVCA. The 2 say that simply 19 late-stage mega rounds occurred within the first quarter of 2023, in contrast with a surprising 98 in Q1 2022.

Unsurprisingly, that slowdown, or right-sizing, or no matter you like to name it, has had ripple results. Within the first quarter, per the organizations’ findings, the median late-stage, pre-money valuation fell 16.9% from the 2022 full-year determine to $54 million, whereas the typical pre-money valuation declined by greater than $100 million to $159 million.

The trade is getting squeezed on all sides. In keeping with the newest knowledge, $11.7 billion was closed throughout 99 enterprise capital funds within the first quarter of this 12 months — most of that cash raised by larger-size autos and the lion’s share, seemingly, by NEA alone, which stated in January that it closed on $6.2 billion in capital commitments throughout two new funds. Certainly, whereas simply two enterprise funds closed on $1 billion or extra within the first three months of this 12 months,  final 12 months, 36 funds had been closed with greater than $1 billion in commitments.

On the similar time that they’re garnering much less in the best way of capital commitments, VCs’ portfolio corporations are getting caught in a form of exit purgatory, too. In keeping with the NVCA and Pitchbook, simply $5.8 billion in exit worth was closed within the first quarter, which is seemingly lower than 1% of the entire exit worth generated in 2021 (it was a report 12 months, however ouch). With the IPO window shut tight — there have been solely 20 public listings within the first quarter —  “strain continues to construct inside the ecosystem,” observes the authors of this newest “enterprise monitor” report.

To study extra, keep tuned; subsequent week, the organizations are planning to drop much more knowledge. Within the meantime, if you’d like to check out a few of these numbers your self, you could find them here.