Money continues to flow in the Pacific Northwest startup ecosystem, even though there aren’t the billion dollar “unicorns” running around these parts like Silicon Valley.
According to the latest MoneyTree report, startup companies in the Pacific Northwest raised $381 million during the first quarter, below the fourth quarter totals when $438 million was raised but well ahead of the first quarter of 2014 when $233 million went into Northwest companies. There were 30 deals in the Pacific Northwest last quarter, on par with the same period last year.
Washington state accounted for $299 million of the $381 million in the Northwest, as just 19 deals were completed in the state. That’s the fewest number of deals in at least three years — and compares to 28 deals in the fourth quarter.
Oregon saw 10 deals, representing $41 million in funding.
Even though the deal totals slowed in Washington, a number of large software and Internet companies pulled in cash, namely Seattle startups such as Porch, Tune, Rover, Remitly, Tempered Networks and Chef.
On a national basis, venture capital investments declined 10 percent to $13.4 billion, when compared to the fourth quarter. The number of deals also declined eight percent — continuing a trend as larger companies eat up more financing dollars.
“Although down slightly from the end of last year, the venture ecosystem deployed a healthy amount of financial capital to the startup ecosystem at the start of 2015, surpassing the $10 billion mark for the fifth consecutive quarter and setting the stage for what we expect to be another busy year for startup investing,” said Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of NVCA. “Last quarter, it was great to see healthy first-time funding levels and that the majority of deals were seed and early stage. Balancing the investment in megadeals, venture capital investors remain focused on building the next generation of companies.”
