Crunchbase Macro Update | Surprising VC Narrative Violations & AI's Big Break

Molly O'Shea is joined by Gené Teare, senior data editor at Crunchbase News, and brings her wealth of experience and insight to the world of venture capital and startup ecosystems.

Gené Teare provides a comprehensive overview of the current venture capital landscape, highlighting the ongoing two-year slowdown in the VC market, and points out a trend towards concentration in late-stage funding. She also touches on the topic of diversity, reporting that female-founded companies received only 3% of total funding in 2023, despite representing 8% of deals.

Lastly, Gené touched on the growing concern about liquidity in the VC industry due to lack of exits, and the potential of AI as a catalyst for innovation, drawing parallels to the mobile wave that emerged after the 2008 financial crisis.

Learn how AI funding is surging amidst a broader VC slowdown, why late-stage investments are concentrating, and what's happening with M&A and IPOs. Discover insights on unicorn trends, female founder funding, and the potential impact of AI on the tech industry's future.

--

Follow on Twitter

https://x.com/MollySOShea

https://x.com/geneteare

--

Check out:

Crunchbase News:

https://news.crunchbase.com/

--

Subscribe to Sourcery:

https://www.sourcery.vc/

--

Sponsor: Archer

Archer's Midnight is a piloted four passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. Learn more about how Archer is set to open up a new world of opportunity for passengers by providing safe and efficient access to people, places, and events across the communities they live, visit https://www.archer.com/

--

Companies mentioned:

Crunchbase - https://www.crunchbase.com/

OpenAI - https://openai.com/

Microsoft - https://www.microsoft.com/

Google - https://www.google.com/

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/

Meta - https://about.meta.com/

Nvidia - https://www.nvidia.com/

Cloudflare - https://www.cloudflare.com/

Airtable - https://www.airtable.com/

Zapier - https://zapier.com/

Stripe - https://stripe.com/

Anduril - https://www.anduril.com/

Revolut - https://www.revolut.com/

Rippling - https://www.rippling.com/

Applied Intuition - https://www.appliedintuition.com/

Anthropic - https://www.anthropic.com/

Clio - https://www.clio.com/

Harvey - https://www.harvey.ai/

xAI - https://x.ai/

CoreWeave - https://www.coreweave.com/

Scale AI - https://scale.com/

EQT - https://eqtgroup.com/

KKR - https://www.kkr.com/

--

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Introduction and State of Technology in 2024

(02:05) Venture Slowdown and Funding Fluctuations

(06:04) The Rise of AI Funding

(09:15) Challenges in the M&A Markets

(13:48) Sponsor: Archer

(24:26) Power Laws in VC: Concentration of Capital

(34:55) Representation of Female Founders in the Industry

(39:38) The Future of IPO Markets

–

Recommended Podcast:
What separates the most enduring and generation-defining venture firms? Turpentine VC talks to Ben Horowitz, Vinod Khosla, Alfred Lin, Mike Maples, Roger Ehrenberg, and more to find out. Subscribe: https://link.chtbl.com/TurpentineVC