The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 2024 | AngelList

The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 2024

A detailed look into venture performance throughout 2024, offering actionable data and candid analysis for GPs, LPs, and founders.

Jan 28, 2025 — 2 min read

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The venture market appears to have found its floor in 2024. While 2023 experienced steep declines across key metrics, the market bottom appears to have held steady, giving investors and founders a chance to recalibrate and laying the groundwork for a potential modest recovery in 2025.

Our 2024 State of Venture report explores the industry’s current stability and highlights the forces shaping its future. Key findings from the report include:

Seed-Stage Strength: Early-stage valuations have shown uncharacteristic resilience, rebounding to their 2022 peak even as other segments of the ecosystem face challenges.
Unpacking Fund Performance: A newly added benchmark data section provides detailed performance metrics for recent venture capital vintages, including 2023, across funds hosted on the AngelList platform.
The Weight of Overhang: Unrealized portfolio values continue to influence investor behavior and shape the broader venture ecosystem.
AI Everywhere: The surge in AI-focused startups shows no signs of slowing. In 2024, nearly a third of seed deals on AngelList were identified as AI companies, a pace that far surpasses previous waves in sectors like Fintech and Crypto.

This year’s State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups report provides an in-depth analysis of venture performance throughout 2024, clarifying uncertain times and providing actionable data and candid analysis for GPs, LPs, and founders.

Our datasets offer unprecedented and timely visibility into how capital flowed in and out of startups, venture fund performance across vintage years, and insights into LP returns throughout 2024. Key data points in this year’s report include: