TLDR:
– Baltimore venture capital started the year a little slower with $67 million across 14 deals in Q1
– The area has been following a trend of weaker Q1 and Q4, with more deal activity in the middle of the year
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in February 2024 (Anthony McCray for Technical.ly) Like much of the nation, Baltimore venture capital started this year a little slower, with less money spent and fewer companies making deals. According to the latest Venture Monitor report, released quarterly by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), companies from Baltimore raised $67 million across 14 deals in Q1. It follows a busier Q4 of last year, where Baltimore companies raised $159 million over 24 deals. But fourth quarters may not be the best context for predicting trends, Technical.ly reported earlier this year. If you were to look at just 2020’s Q4 of $30 million, for example, you’d miss that the region went on a venture capital high during the pandemic. Baltimore VC deals have been following a general trend for the last few years where its first and fourth quarters have been weaker, but we see much more deal activity in the middle of the year. For example, Q1 of 2022 and 2023 saw $76 million and $93 million in deals in the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, respectively, while Q2 saw $222 million and $332 million. We’ll be paying attention to whether these trends continue in 2024. As always, it’s important to note: These figures may vary slightly after publication, as some deals aren’t accounted for until weeks after quarterly VC reports are published, or PitchBook may find errors in its data.
Baltimore’s biggest VC deals in Q1 2024 were in healthcare and information technology industries. Top regional deals included:
– Impact Analytics: $40 million
– Gliknik: $9.2 million
– Impruvon Health: $3 million
– NextStep Robotics: $2.3 million
– Astek Diagnosis: $2 million
National venture capital trends show that Baltimore’s slower Q1 aligns with what much of the rest of the country experienced. The nation’s total VC deal count was $36.6 billion across 3,925 total deals, relatively on pace with Q1 of last year. Kyle Standford, a lead VC analyst, called Q1 a “calm” quarter in the report, with valuations rising and the potential for a recession “remaining a possibility.” While Baltimore may see an uptick in activity in the next two quarters,
