Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The Q2 2022 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor showed a U.S. venture market that was slowing unevenly: deal values fell from 2021 highs and VC-backed IPOs nearly disappeared, but deal counts and fundraising remained comparatively strong. The findings describe the second quarter of 2022—not today’s market.
What the Q2 2022 report found
PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) reported a sharp contrast between venture investment and exits. Deal value weakened across stages compared with 2021’s highs, while the number of deals remained strong. Public listings were much quieter: IPOs and SPAC mergers both fell, even as corporate acquisitions continued to provide an exit route.
NVCA President and CEO Bobby Franklin described the quarter as “an expected continuation of market tightening in some parts of the U.S. venture ecosystem.” The report’s figures support a more nuanced reading than a broad claim that venture activity stopped: investors were still making deals and raising funds, but the value of investments and the ability to exit through public markets had deteriorated.
Deal count and deal value told different stories
A strong deal count does not mean investors were deploying as much capital as they had at the market’s 2021 peak. NVCA said deal values fell significantly across stages from those highs, even as deal counts remained strong. In other words, activity persisted, but the overall value of that activity was lower.
#1 Best Overall
The distinction matters when interpreting headlines about venture deals “tanking.” A deal count measures how many transactions occurred; deal value measures the capital invested. The Q2 report described a decline in the latter, not a collapse in the former.
How the slowdown differed by funding stage
Seed
Seed activity was relatively insulated from the downturn compared with later stages. The report’s summary does not give a specific seed investment total, so the comparison is directional rather than a precise measure of how much seed activity changed.
Rank #2
Early stage
Early-stage companies received approximately $16 billion across an estimated 1,340 deals in Q2 2022, according to NVCA. Both figures are estimates reported for that quarter, not a forecast or a measure of current activity.
Late stage
Late-stage average deal size and valuations were down from recent highs. PitchBook CEO John Gabbert said, “Exits remain extremely low while late-stage companies act with caution as a result of bearish public market activity.” That links the late-stage caution to the weak public-market backdrop in the report’s interpretation; it does not establish that public-market conditions were the sole cause.
IPO and SPAC exits plunged, while M&A continued
NVCA counted 22 VC-backed IPOs in the first half of 2022, compared with 183 in all of 2021 and 108 in all of 2020. These figures compare a six-month period with full calendar years, so they show how subdued H1 2022 was but are not like-for-like annual totals. IPOs and SPAC mergers together accounted for 42 public listings in H1 2022.
Public listings were not the only exit path. More than 200 corporate M&A exits closed in Q2 2022, according to NVCA. Acquisitions therefore continued even as the IPO window was exceptionally quiet; the report does not imply that M&A fully offset the decline in public listings.
Fundraising held up better than investment values and exits
U.S. venture funds had raised $121.5 billion across 415 funds by midyear 2022, making that the second-highest annual fundraising amount on record at that point, according to NVCA. That is a cumulative H1 total, not a completed full-year figure. The strength of fundraising alongside weaker deal values and exits shows why capital raised by funds should not be confused with capital invested in companies or cash returned to investors.
First-time fundraising totaled $7.6 billion through H1 2022, compared with $16.8 billion raised by new managers in all of 2021. As with the IPO comparison, the H1 and full-year periods differ, and the numbers do not show the final 2022 result.
Best Value
How to read the report—and its limits
The PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor was jointly produced by PitchBook and NVCA, with support from Insperity and J.P. Morgan. NVCA describes it as its authoritative quarterly report and identifies PitchBook as its official data provider. The figures summarized here are historical Q2 and H1 2022 findings; they should not be used to describe the current venture market.
In the matching July 2022 VentureBeat report, J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking’s Pamela Aldsworth expected valuations to come down across investment stages and called that a “healthy resetting of the bar.” That was her assessment at the time, not a guarantee about how valuations would evolve. VentureBeat also connected investor caution to economic worries and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; that is the article’s explanation, not a measured causal finding established by the Monitor.
For current conditions, consult NVCA’s [Venture Monitor page], which now describes Q2 2026 as a record quarter for dealmaking and exits. Those later figures belong to a different market period and should not be blended with the 2022 results.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
Recommended Free Tools
