So far, 2021 was a year of records, from the American markets closing at record highs to the cryptocurrency market cap topping $2 trillion, and Tencent and Prosus completing the world’s largest block trade.
But those are not the only worth-mentioning records. According to Crunchbase, the number of companies valued at $1 billion or higher (also known as unicorns) is higher than ever, with almost two new companies popping up every two days in the first quarter. Moreover, the report shows that the global venture investments hit $125 billion in the first three months of 2021. This represents a 50% growth quarter-on-quarter and a 90% surge year-on-year. The figures topped the previous record reported in Q4 2018 when the global funding reached $92 billion.
The most significant increases were reported in healthcare, financial services, transportation, commerce, and shopping – a 56% growth quarter-over-quarter, roughly $100 million.
But only the global venture investments reached new highs. The pace of acquisitions rose 26% in Q1 2021 and 44% year-over-year. The most significant purchases were of GlobalLogic by Hitachi for $9.6 billion (both companies are specialized in tech and cloud computing services), Auth0 by Okta for $6.5 billion (management platforms), and finally Moonton’s purchase by Nuverse for $4 billion (game developers and publishers).
The Asia-based companies took the markets by storm with their IPOs — one of the most significant being Kuaishou’s, valued at $150 billion. At the same time, the largest US-based direct offering was of the gaming platform Roblox, valued at $30 billion.
While the first quarter ended on a high note, now all eyes are on the most anticipated public debut of 2021 – Coinbase’s direct listing. Read more about it here!
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Sources: crunchbase.com, itproportal.com