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Artificial intelligence defined venture capital in 2024, showing up often and everywhere. But there were other signs of optimism that also boosted the industry, including crypto’s resurgence and the secondary market boom. Throughout the year, the pipeline of pre-IPO companies continued to expand, and strong VC performance made the case for investing in top quartile, established venture funds.
Those tailwinds were met with some headwinds, particularly related to the exit market and fundraising for emerging managers and companies. The geopolitical and macro environment continued to grow increasingly complex throughout 2024. Still, we see reasons for sustained optimism as we move farther into 2025.
Once a year, TrueBridge Capital explores the most impactful trends in the venture capital industry, synthesizing the greatest takeaways from the past year and offering a glimpse into what’s ahead. See the key takeaways from our full State of the Venture Capital Industry below.
The fog begins to lift
Looking back, 2021 was a record-breaking year for the venture capital industry, with 23 funds raising over $1 billion. Capital investments surged 98% in one year to a whopping $330 billion, and LPs averaged around 50% returns on their investments. Many in the industry wondered if the highs of 2021 were the new standard.
Instead, the industry experienced a measured recalibration over the next two years, and as the fog settled on nearly every aspect of fundraising and dealmaking, attitudes quickly shifted toward caution. Fortunately, 2024 showed signs of recovery. There were more than 15,000 transactions in the year, the third-highest total since 2014, and a 29% increase in capital invested compared with 2023.
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