It’s been a big year for startups around the world, which saw a dramatic increase in funding in 2021 after a trepidatious 2020. We looked at research firm to check out the numbers for ourselves as the year comes to an end.
Globally, startups around the world in 2021 raised more funding than they did last year. Even before the end of the year, they had raised a combined $437.7 billion in almost 25,000 deals, according to CB Insights. Funding peaked in the third financial quarter, with 9,363 deals worth $158.2 billion.
The U.S. remained the biggest global hub for startup investment — there were 3,210 deals worth $72.3 billion even before the year's end, though Asia saw even more dealflow — 3,815 deals, worth $50.2 billion. Asia's deal share actually overtook the United States' in the third quarter, with 41% of all deals happening in Asia.
Venture capitalists led deal share into the third financial quarter of the year, comprising 31% of deal share globally. By comparison, angel investors made up just 9% of deal share, and private equity made up 8%. However, private equity led this year in terms of the median deal size for investor categories., spending $35 million — much more than VCs' $12 million.
The average and median size of deals has grown year over year since CB Insights first started tracking in 2015. This year, the average deal is $25 million, and the median deal is $4 million. And though the median deal size grew in all geographic regions this year, Asia leads the U.S., with a median deal size of $6 million to the U.S.' $5 million.
Mega-rounds greater than $100 million accounted for a record $253 billion in funding so far this year, according to the report. And in the third quarter of 2021, the amount of funding pouring into mega-rounds had more than doubled compared to the same time period of last year. The U.S. was home to 193 mega-round deals, compared to Asia's 128 and Europe's 54. U.S. may remain in the lead, but Asian mega-rounds saw an increase toward the end of the year. Mega-rounds account for roughly 60% of total dollars invested globally.
The majority of deals made in 2021 were early-stage deals (62%), followed by mid-stage (15%), late-stage (12%), and other (11%). The global median late-stage deal size nearly doubled in 2021, from $27 million in 2020 to $50 million in 2021.
