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Global VC investments hit a new record in 2021

Global venture capital investments nearly doubled in 2021, setting a new record of $671 billion invested in 38,644 deals, according to KPMG

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Global venture capital investments nearly doubled in 2021, setting a new record of $671 billion invested in 38,644 deals, according to “Venture Pulse”, a report by KPMG Private Enterprise. In the 4th quarter alone, $171 billion were invested in 8,710 transactions.

In 2010, there were 31,623 deals worldwide, with a total of investments of $347 billion. In 11 years, the average ticket of the rounds increased almost 60%, from $10.97 million to $17.36 million.

The boost is thanks to the continual number of rounds of hundreds or even billions of dollars. In the 4th quarter, there were 10 rounds with fundings higher than $1 billion in 3 countries (China, United States, and Indonesia). Indonesia-based J&T Express raised the biggest one ($2.5 billion), followed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems (US$ 1.8 billion) and Gopuff (US$ 1.5 billion).

Brazil was left out of the ranking. “How so?”, you must be wondering. “What about Nubank?” Although the company’s series G took place in the 4th quarter, the ranking does not consider startups that went public during that time. Details aside, Brazil is home to 2 of the 4 new unicorns in Latin America: logtech Frete.com (which operates CargoX, FreteBras, and Frete Pago) and Olist, which helps retailers sell on marketplaces such as Mercado Livre and Amazon.

Collectively, the Americas raised a record of $95.2 billion in investments during the last quarter of 2021, with the US accounting for (only) $88.2 billion of the total. Investments in VC reached US$28 billion in Europe and a record of $46,2 billion in the Asia-Pacific region. The number for Latin America was not disclosed.

Venture capital vs Private equity

In Brazil, VC investments in 2021 continued ahead of private equity investments. According to a survey by KPMG and the Brazilian Association of Private Equity and Venture Capital (ABVCAP), contributions from VC funds reached more than $10 billion last year, an increase of 128% compared to 2020. On the other hand, private equity investments went down 19%, to nearly $1,4 billion.

“This cutback may be reflecting the need for structural reforms, as well as the uncertainties of the pandemic or the economic environment and, perhaps, the political future of the country. Even so, we have noticed a lot of recent movements and a trend towards new investments, especially linked to companies or assets with an ESG conscientiousness”, says Roberto Haddad, partner and National Sector Leader for Private Equity and Venture Capital at KPMG in Brazil.

ESG and sustainable initiatives, as well as an increasing interest in international markets and the strengthening of fintechs ecossystem are some of the main trends for 2022. According to KPMG, the combination of investments and the continued push towards digitalization will likely help to keep pushing the venture capital ecossystem forward in the first quarter of this year.

(translation by Gabriela Del Carmen)