| Hi, Agen. Even with predictions that U.S. retail sales of consumer tech will rise 2.8% to $512 billion in 2024, startups in the space aren’t feeling the love from investors. Truth be told, the love hasn’t been felt for some time. We take a look at the past decade’s flat funding trajectory for consumer electronics. Plus, fintech and former e-commerce golden child Bolt reaches out for $450 million in turnaround funding. Even at the height of the bull market, startups in the consumer electronics space pulled in less than 1% of all U.S. venture funding. Now, after several years of relatively flat investment, funding to startups in the sector is slumping. Bolt, one of the golden children of the go-go venture days of 2020-21, is looking to raise a fresh $450 million at a $14 billion valuation from investors, it was reported. The valuation is quite the turnaround for Bolt, which earlier this year offered investors a share buyback program that valued the company at a mere $300 million. Defense tech has been in the news lately thanks to big rounds raised by Anduril Industries and Helsing. The big-name firms leading those rounds have been pretty busy in the space in recent years. Related Crunchbase Pro list: Global Defense Tech Funding The time lapse between funding rounds for early-stage startups in the U.S. has reached the highest point in more than a decade, hitting 28 months — by far the longest span since 2012. A more dynamic seed environment relative to other funding stages through the downturn has raised questions about startups graduating beyond seed. Is the pickup in funding in H1 and the increased pace by leading investors an indicator of a stronger venture market outlook moving forward? Related Crunchbase Pro lists: • Active US Investors Leading Series A, B Rounds In H1 2024 • US Series A And B Fundings In 2024 | 
No comments:
Post a Comment