While total funding increased to near-record highs, the number of VC deals fell 4 percent, declining to 5,052 in 2017 — the lowest annual total since 2012. This continues a multi-year trend of larger rounds targeting later-stage VC-backed companies and was highlighted by seed stage deal share dipping to 27 percent in 2017 — including just 22 percent in Q4 2017 — down from 32 percent in 2016, according to PWC and CB Insights.
Moving beyond the domestic markets, the global VC market remained strong with global funding reaching a post-2000 record high and an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2016. In 2017, $164 billion was invested across 11,042 deals globally. In addition to increased funding, global deal activity also increased by 11 percent. The global markets were driven by strong growth in the Asian markets and continued strong performance in the European markets.