Houston startups experienced a significant dip in venture capital (VC) funding in 2023, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report. The report showed that Houston-based startups collected nearly $1.5 billion in VC funding, down from over $2.2 billion in 2022 and over $2.6 billion in 2021. The 2023 figure is also below the funding level in both 2019 and 2020. Despite the decrease in overall funding, Axiom Space, a Houston-based company, accounted for a large portion of the region’s VC funding in 2023 with a series C round worth $350 million. Other local startups that performed well in terms of VC funding in 2023 include Cart.com, RepeatMD, MicroFab, and EndoQuest Robotics.
From 2019 to 2023, the VC funding in the Houston area has been as follows:
- 2023 — $1.478 billion
- 2022 — $2.207 billion
- 2021 — $2.625 billion
- 2020 — $718.94 million
- 2019 — $950.76 million
Nationally, VC funding in private companies decreased to $170.6 billion in 2023, which is $71.6 billion less than in 2022 and around half of the amount invested in 2021. Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA, stated in the report that although the drop in VC activity is concerning, it should not be seen as a crisis. He emphasized that the market has changed due to various factors, such as interest rates and foreign conflicts, and new challenges need to be addressed.
