While that’s lower than the record-high total of nearly $869 million from 2021, it’s the second-highest total for annual investment dollars ever seen in the state. Last year’s total includes 107 different deals, compared to the 140 deals seen in the prior year.
The Tech Council notes 116 different investment groups or funds participated in the deals tracked for last year, including 76 out-of-state investors.
“Wisconsin continues to attract more angel and venture capital, including a rising share of money from outside the state, but more work must be done to recognize the state’s full potential,” Tech Council President Tom Still said in a statement.
The largest investment deal from last year, raised by Madison-based rewards program startup Fetch, made up a sizable portion of the total with $240 million raised. Other companies with significant deals included: SHINE Medical Technologies, Elephas Biosciences, Moxie Health, Ensodata, Polco, Frontdesk, Synthetaic, Understory and Leo Cancer Care.
The report highlights growth across the spectrum of deal size, as the average round size for 2022 was close to $6 million. Report authors wrote that “signifies Wisconsin startups are growing and not just needing to secure larger rounds of funding, but they are also successful at doing so.”
By comparison, the previous year’s average round size was just over $6.2 million. But in the previous five years, that figure had largely been on the rise, from about $1.7 million in 2015 to $3.8 million in 2019.
Meanwhile, the median deal size for last year was $1 million. As half of all deals were for less than that amount, many early-stage businesses in the state are getting the initial funding needed to launch and continue growing, the report suggests.
But at the same time, the report notes first-time funding has been declining for several years. The Tech Council found 35 percent of companies that landed investments last year began raising funds in 2022.
As with previous years, information technology and health care companies are dominating the investment landscape, making up 54 percent and 40.4 percent of all capital raised in the state last year, respectively.
See the full report: https://wisconsintechnologycouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WI-Portfolio-2023-FINAL-web1.pdf
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