top 20 venture investors

Throwback Tuesday. Big tech is all in. Year of the robot. View in browser

March 12, 2024

North stars

Hi there,   First, a trip down memory lane.   On this day 4 years ago, I sent the email below to the entire CB Insights team suggesting we might be WFH for 8 days.    Nailed it.

And this time last year, the SVB collapse happened.    It was a day when a number of brave folks in tech tweeted relentlessly and saved the economy.   At the time, our team analyzed all things SVB and the startup ecosystem. We said SVB would drive lower valuations and accelerate down rounds and layoffs.   That prediction was a lot better than the WFH one.   And now, here is this week’s Hot or Not.

Hot or Not

Hot: Big tech's AI investments   The number of deals to AI startups backed by US big tech companies & their strategic venture arms jumped 50% year-over-year.    This is the next big supertrend, much like the internet and mobile phones, and big tech is committed to not just not missing it but to driving it.    They are all in on genAI. We map out all of the 75+ AI startups big tech backed in 2023 here.

Not: SVB   This week marks one year since the collapse of SVB.    At the time, we covered the challenges startups would face and SVB’s key relationships with VCs, healthcare investors, and the fintech ecosystem.   Despite the Twitter hysterics at the time, we’ve settled in many ways into a new normal.    The crisis marked another downshift in the venture market.  Overall, 2023 funding and dealmaking hit 6-year lows as venture investors became more sparing with their dry powder.

Hot: These venture investors   Andreessen Horowitz is the top venture investor in North America.   How do we know?   We mined the portfolio company data for thousands of North American investors.   And we ranked them based on factors including portfolio strength, CB Insights’ Mosaic score, recent deal activity, and ability to predict future winners. Want the full list of the top 20 and underlying data? Download it all here.

Venture investors — make sure we’re representing your full portfolio by contacting us here to set up a review of CB Insights’ coverage of your investments. It’s 100% free and will improve our ability to rank your firm in upcoming research. Not: Climate change   February marked the ninth straight month of record-high global temperatures.   Companies are under increasing pressure to cut emissions and investors are seeing a big opportunity.   For example, green hydrogen developers saw a surge in early-stage funding and deals last year. CBI customers can dive into the trend and discover other climate tech markets to watch in this brief.

Hot: Humanoid robotics   Humanoid robotics are on 🔥.   (In a good way — not in like a mechanical meltdown kind of way.)   Tech giants like Nvidia, Google, and Amazon are piling into the space.   And less than 3 months into the year, humanoid robotics startups have already pulled in a record amount of annual funding.   Humanoid robotics will have their ChatGPT moment in the next year. Watch this space. Explore the landscape in this customer-only research brief.

Not: Auto telematics platforms headcount Auto telematics platforms — which gather driver behavior and usage data — have collectively seen their headcount decrease by 7% over the past year.   One company here, Otonomo, conducted rounds of layoffs after failing to live up to forecasts from its SPAC merger in August 2021.    (Note: When you see "SPAC," you generally can assume isht is not going well.)   In addition to auto telematics, we mapped out 11 key markets in connected vehicle tech in this market map. CB Insights customers can see which have the most momentum based on headcount trends in the brief.

I love you.    Anand  @asanwal    P.S. We’re looking for a fintech aficionado to join our research squad. Check out the details here.

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