Data shows second year of startup slump, no mere average.

In 2023, the startup industry experienced another year of decline in fundraising, according to data from Carta. In comparison to 2019, startup funding observed by Carta totaled just $47 billion this year, compared to $84.1 billion. The pandemic had initially been beneficial for the tech industry, but venture capital funding did not return to pre-pandemic levels. Late-stage financings were particularly affected, with capital invested via Series E and later stage financings down by 92% from Q1 2021. As a result, more startups were forced to accept reality and raise down rounds. This year, 16% of Series A rounds were down rounds, compared to 8% from the previous year. Furthermore, nearly one-third of Series D funding rounds had a lower share price than the previous round. The decline in startup funding highlights the challenges faced by startups that were not part of the AI hype or the frenzy for GPUs.