April saw over $1.1B in funding, going to early-stage startups across over 400 deals. The report below details early stage (angel – Series A) technology financings and some of the hottest early-stage tech companies based off of social media, news, and web traffic momentum that were funded in April 2015.
Specifically this report covers:
- Overall financing trends
- Mean & median deal sizes
- Which sectors garnered the most investment
- The month’s largest deals
- The most active VCs
- Which sub-industries are hottest
- Companies with the most momentum
FINANCING TRENDS
APRIL 2015: $1.18B INVESTED ACROSS 419 EARLY-STAGE DEALS
Early-stage Tech investment activity fell off March’s highs, as startups raised $1.18B across 419 early-stage deals in April. It’s clear that $1 billion is the new normal for early-stage funding.
MEDIAN DEAL SIZES BOUNCE BACK
The median round size across all early-stage Tech deals bounced back to $1.7M after March saw its lowest figure since February 2014.
ANGEL BACK DOWN TO EARTH IN APRIL
After mean and median deal sizes popped in March, Angel rounds fell to $1.15M on average, and $0.70M on a median basis. Median angel round sizes have now fallen below $1M in 3 of the past 4 months.
SEED DEAL SIZES REBOUND IN APRIL
Median Seed Tech deal sizes in April bounced back to $1M, up drastically from March’s low of $0.63M. The $1M Seed looks like a new normal, as 6 of the last 7 months have been within $100k of $1M.
MEDIAN SERIES A HITS $5M+ FOR 8TH STRAIGHT MONTH
After March saw multiple $50M+ Series A rounds, April saw none, as average Series A deal size fell to $6.91M. Median Series A deal size was $5M, marking the eighth straight month at $5M+.
INTERNET DEAL SHARE TOPS 60% FOR 4th STRAIGHT MONTH
Internet startups made up 68% of all early-stage tech investments in April. This was the fourth straight month that Internet deal share has topped 60%. Mobile startups fell slightly month over month, taking 25% of all deals versus 28% in March.
INTERNET FUNDING SHARE JUMPS TO 68%
Internet startups captured 68% of all funding in April 2015, their second highest funding share in 16 months. Mobile fell to just 22% funding share, while all other sectors remained range-bound.
LARGEST EARLY STAGE DEALS RAISE $214M
Vlocity, a CRM company founded by Veeva Systems’ founders was the largest US early-stage Tech deal in April, raising $42.8M from Salesforce Ventures and Accenture. MX and Patch of Land rounded out the top 3, as the top 10 deals cumulatively raised $213.7M in April.
| Rank | Company | Sub-Industry | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vlocity | Customer Relationship Management | 42.8 |
| 2 | MX | Accounting & Finance | 30.0 |
| 3 | Patch of Land | Marketplace | 23.6 |
| 4 | Honor Technology | Health & Wellness | 20.0 |
| 4 | Navdy | Computer Displays & Projectors | 20.0 |
| 6 | CNEX Labs | Big Data Storage | 18.8 |
| 7 | Peloton Technology | Supply Chain & Logistics | 16.0 |
| 8 | Green Chef Corp | Food & Grocery | 15.5 |
| 9 | Artivest Holdings | Asset & Financial Management & Trading | 15.0 |
| 10 | Vulcun | Gaming | 12.0 |
500 STARTUPS IS MOST ACTIVE VC IN APRIL
500 Startups was the most active early-stage Tech VC in April, with investments in PlateJoy, Shots, and Eaze Solutions, among others. Foundry Group and SAIF Partners rounded out the top 3.
| Rank | Investor |
|---|---|
| 1 | 500 Startups |
| 2 | Foundry Group |
| 3 | SAIF Partners |
| 4 | Andreessen Horowitz |
| 4 | Founder Collective |
| 4 | New Enterprise Associates |
| 4 | East Ventures |
| 4 | Bain Capital Ventures |
| 4 | First Round Capital |
| 4 | Upfront Ventures |
MOMENTUM
TRAVEL AND SUPPLY CHAIN TOP SUB-INDUSTRIES
Supply Chain & Logistics startups saw the largest deal growth of tech sub-industries in March 2015 vs. the same month a year prior. Alternatively, mobile Travel saw the largest decline, as the sole deal done was a $2M seed investment to Paris-based misterbnb.
HIGH-BUZZ EARLY STAGE TECH COMPANIES
We tracked overall news mentions as well as web traffic metrics (pageviews, reach, rank) and Twitter mention growth for early-stage tech companies that received financing in April 2015. Below are the 4-20 ranked companies in each metric. The full top 20 is available to CB Insights customers on the Research tab.
| News Mentions | Web Traffic | Twitter Mention Growth | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Company | Rank | Company | Rank | Company | ||
| 1 | Login to CB Insights | 1 | Login to CB Insights | 1 | Login to CB Insights | ||
| 1 | Login to CB Insights | 2 | Login to CB Insights | 2 | Login to CB Insights | ||
| 1 | Login to CB Insights | 2 | Login to CB Insights | 3 | Login to CB Insights | ||
| 3 | Number26 | 4 | Swiggy | 5 | Knotch | ||
| 5 | TokenOne | 5 | Voices.com | 6 | Love Mondays | ||
| 6 | CurrencyFair | 6 | SalesLoft | 7 | Storygami | ||
| 6 | Music Messenger | 7 | IdblogNetwork | 8 | Ayogo | ||
| 6 | Headout | 8 | PepperTap | 9 | LoveTheSign | ||
| 6 | DemoChimp | 9 | Nearpod | 10 | CurrencyFair | ||
| 10 | PepperTap | 10 | CodeFights | 10 | RealtyShares | ||
| 10 | Navdy | 11 | Vulcun | 12 | Carbon3D | ||
| 12 | Clarifai | 12 | Viralize | 13 | Take Eat Easy | ||
| 12 | npm | 13 | StarOfService | 14 | Atooma | ||
| 12 | CompareAsiaGroup |
|
14 | Tracxn Technologies | 15 | Dietox | |
| 15 | TradeGecko | 14 | Scroll Media | 16 | WhatFix | ||
| 15 | Jukely | 16 | Tackk | 17 | Benchling | ||
| 15 | Take Eat Easy | 17 | LoveTheSign | 18 | CrowdyHouse | ||
| 15 | TouchBistro | 18 | Yerdle | 19 | Navdy | ||
| 15 | OpenFin | 19 | RealtyShares | 20 | TradeGecko | ||
| 19 | InstaBrand | 20 | schooX |
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This report was created with data from CB Insights’ emerging technology insights platform, which offers clarity into emerging tech and new business strategies through tools like:
- Earnings Transcripts Search Engine & Analytics to get an information edge on competitors’ and incumbents’ strategies
- Patent Analytics to see where innovation is happening next
- Company Mosaic Scores to evaluate startup health, based on our National Science Foundation-backed algorithm
- Business Relationships to quickly see a company’s competitors, partners, and more
- Market Sizing Tools to visualize market growth and spot the next big opportunity