In 2014, billion dollar funding rounds for startups like Uber, Xiaomi, and Flipkart took center stage as CrunchBase captured more monster funding rounds than ever.
Amidst this funding frenzy, investors worldwide appear to have put on the brakes in 2014 when it comes to early stage deals.
The US, UK, and China, along with the majority of countries reporting at least 10 venture rounds in the past two years, saw a significant decline in number of early stage rounds recorded in 2014.
A good chunk of Southeast Asian countries went against the grain. Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand all saw growth in early stage action despite a near 10% decrease in China’s deal flow.
Hong Kong saw the most dramatic increase, nearly tripling the number of early stage rounds this year recorded in 2013.
Late stage funding, however, picked up across the board.
U.S.-based startups saw a 41% increase in number of growth rounds announced, while developing startup hubs in South Africa, Ireland and the Philippines reported some of the first late stage funding to date.
Russian startups took a major hit last year as the Crimean crisis hindered startup growth and appeared to deter potential venture investors. Russia’s early stage funding suffered a near 70% decline while late stage funding dropped by 40%.
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Image via Flickr user torbakhopper