The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 1Q22

Early-stage VC performance remained elevated despite economic headwinds.

Apr 26, 2022 — 2 min read

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Matthew Speiser

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1Q22 was the most active first quarter ever on AngelList in terms of fundraises and exits.
Of the startups that changed their share price in 1Q22, 83% saw that share price increase.
Median valuations increased at every stage over 4Q21.
Web3 startups captured the largest share of deal volume and capital deployed in 1Q22.
20% of all capital deployed went to female founders in 1Q22.
Read all our findings in our 1Q22 State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups report.

Early-stage venture performance remained historically elevated in 1Q22, despite turbulence in later-stage venture and in the public market. 83% of startups on AngelList that had their share price change in 1Q22 saw that share price increase. That’s only a modest decline from 4Q21’s rate of 84% and 1Q21’s rate of 85%.

At the same time, 11.6% of the 6,848 startups (primarily at pre-seed and seed) that AngelList GPs had seasoned investments into raised a round or exited in 1Q22—representing the most active Q1 ever seen on AngelList.

Additionally, startup valuations increased at most stages in 1Q22.

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Taken together, this data suggests early-stage VC has largely been spared from broader market turmoil thus far. This may be because early-stage startups are often several years away from exiting, and are therefore less likely to be impacted by public market volatility. We’ve previously found that venture capital returns and private market returns are uncorrelated.

This isn’t to say early-stage VC will maintain its current level of performance going forward, especially if investors become more risk-averse. However, for the time being, our data suggests these concerns have not materialized in a meaningful way for investments on AngelList.

The 1Q22 State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups report is made in collaboration with Silicon Valley Bank. Our combined datasets offer detailed insight into how capital flowed into and out of early-stage startups in 1Q22.

Additional key findings from this quarter’s report include:

Most popular early-stage markets
Funding to female founders
Popular investment instruments
Investment volume by round
Startup payroll spend
Median startup revenues
Top emerging U.S. tech hubs

Disclaimer

All data referenced in this material is current as of 4/1/22, unless otherwise mentioned. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision and does not constitute an offer of any kind. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. We undertake no obligations to update them in the future. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.