Healthcare And AI Sectors Continue To Lead, While Funding Settles In July 2024

Venture funding reached over $23 billion in July 2024, slightly down month over month and up more than 20% year over year, based on an analysis of Crunchbase data.

The largest funding in July went to 16-year-old Vancouver-based legal tech company Clio. NEA led the $900 million funding with participation from a host of growth-stage investors. The company reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue managing all processes from payments, client management and documentation for thousands of mid-sized law firms. This was a massive round for vertical SaaS, and the largest ever for a legal cloud technology company.

Healthcare and AI lead

The leading sector for investment was healthcare and biotech companies which raised $6 billion. AI companies were close on its heels, and raised around $5.8 billion. Each of these leading sectors represent around 25% of all funding in July 2024.

Funding to AI companies doubled in Q2 — the highest quarter for funding to this sector since the launch of ChatGPT. AI-related companies in July continued to garner a significant proportion of funding.

Large AI rounds were raised by model developers Beijing-based Baichuan Intelligence with $687 million and Toronto-based Cohere at $500 million, and Berlin-based AI-defense company Helsing raised $489 million.

The next largest sectors for funding in July were hardware companies, raising $3.3 billion, and financial services at $2.6 billion. Financial services, the second-largest sector after healthcare and biotech in 2021 and into 2022 has dropped in rank, but since 2023 has stayed in the top five sectors.

Billion-dollar exits

The largest IPO so far in 2024 happened last month with Michigan-based Lineage Logistics, a cold storage and distribution company that raised private capital primarily from private equity and real estate investors, going public. The company raised $4.4 billion at a value of $18 billion.

The fifth cloud software company acquisition this year above $1 billion was cloud data storage company Nasuni with a majority investment from Vista Equity Partners and participation from KKR and TCV valuing the company at $1.2 billion.

Biotech and healthcare companies have dominated billion-dollar exits this year. A further two were announced this past month; California-based Nerio Therapeutics was acquired by German-based pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and Boston-based Jnana Therapeutics acquired by Japanese headquartered Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, we are not seeing billion-dollar exits for AI companies, as Big Tech licenses technology and hires teams to bypass regulatory scrutiny.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from Crunchbase, and is based on reported data. Data reported is as of Aug. 5, 2024.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

As of January 2023, we have made a change to how we include corporate funding rounds in our reporting. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. Crunchbase also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. Crunchbase includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the “Series [Letter]” naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a “venture” round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)