The conventional Q3 venture summary has thus far focused on the spree of acquisition mega-deals and jumbo fundings in Silicon Valley. The fight to acquire Twitch, Zillow buying Trulia for $3.5B, Box’s pre-IPO $150M round and Nutanix’s Series E at a $2B valuation were certainly all worthy of discussion over the last quarter.
However, many of the highlights of Q3 came via Asia, including Flipkart’s $1B round and Alibaba’s record IPO. Of the top 10 countries for total venture funding last quarter, half were from Asia. And despite recent unrest in Hong Kong and Israel, startup activity is thriving in both countries as both domestic and international investors are increasing their bets in the region.
Outside of North America and the UK, the top two countries for Q3 venture fundraising, India and China, were remarkably even. India accumulated 82 funding rounds totalling $1.6B, while Chinese startups took in 81 rounds for $1.9B. China recorded a full dozen rounds over $50M and the median round size of $11M was by far the highest of any country in Q3.
Israel had a big third quarter as the seventh most active country. Israeli startups raised over $360M in 47 rounds, led by a $85M raise by ironSource of Tel Aviv. Disruptive was the sole investor in the round, and has already accumulated a handful of investments in the country after just a year in operation. Accel Partners, Bessemer and Qumra teamed up for a $50M Series C for Fiverr.com, one of the leading freelance marketplaces. The cash will be used to expand globally beyond the already impressive 3M gigs in 196 countries.
By city, Austin was the fourth most active tech hub in the world in Q3, tallying 47 rounds. Despite the high total, Silvercar’s $14M Series B was the largest round, split between six different investors (Dave Morin, Chris Dixon, CrunchFund, Austin Ventures, Velos Partners and Eduardo Saverin). The recent deal flow in Austin is an alarming trend, but the median round size just barely north of $1M shows how far Austin has to go in comparison to established VC hotspots like Beijing ($12.8 Q3 median), Menlo Park ($9M), San Jose ($5.91M) and Cambridge ($3.oM).
By investor, Y Combinator was the most active in the US in Q3, with 46 investments, while Seedcamp led all European investors with 11 rounds. To see the full list of the most active Seed, Early and Late stage investors in Q3, go to the Investor Leaderboard and have a look for yourself.
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Photo via flickr user pfly
