2021 Venture Capital Investments Near $270B, Setting Global Records

A surge in equities, higher liquidity and more interest in markets that have benefited from the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak have led to record levels of investment by global venture capital firms, according to U.S. News and World Report.

VCs have invested almost $270 billion this year primarily in software, eCommerce, digital health and financial technology — already more than their total 2020 outlay of about $251.2 billion, according to Refinitiv data cited in the report.

Almost three-quarters of the total — $195.3 billion — has been focused on late-stage startups.

U.S.-based VCs raised $70 billion in the first half of 2021, a 65% increase from last year, according to Refinitiv data. Asian and European venture capital funds raised $16.1 billion and $8.2 billion, respectively, with both numbers also significantly higher than in 2020.

European startups have raised more capital in the first six months of 2021 than they did in all of last year, CNBC reported in June. Dealroom data shows startups in Europe raised 43.8 billion euros — or $60.9 billion — in the first six months of this year, surpassing the record 38.5 billion euros in investments last year.

London-based financial tech companies landed a record amount of venture capital investment in the first half of 2021, according to an announcement earlier this month that cited research from Dealroom.co and London & Partners.

FinTechs based in the U.K. capital raised $5.3 billion in VC investments between January and June. More than 3,000 FinTechs call London home, according to the announcement.

In addition, global investment in FinTech has attained new peaks in 2021 as the pandemic fuels the accelerated adoption of FinTech offerings, the release stated. Around the world, FinTech VC investments totaled $54.1 billion in the time spanning from January to June.

April was the second-highest month on record for investment in private companies, according to data from Crunchbase, with VCs sinking more than $48 billion into business ventures. That’s topped only by March 2021, which saw more than $54 billion in venture capital investments.