<article>2014 was a record year in terms of venture capital (VC) investment activity and 2015 will likely continue that upward trend, according to reports on global VC trends by <a href="http://www.ey.com/" target="_blank">EY</a>.</article>

2014 was a record year in terms of venture capital (VC) investment activity and 2015 will likely continue that upward trend, according to reports on global VC trends by <a href="http://www.ey.com/" target="_blank">EY</a>.
The consultancy believed that given the positive trends and macroeconomic factors, investors are likely to remain keen to invest early-stage capital in the emerging markets, in pursuit of higher returns.
Activity in China is expected to remain robust and interest in India will be heightened, following the installation of a more pro-business government. Lower oil prices will further boost economic activity helping to sustain a positive operating environment for VC.
“In terms of sectors, we anticipate that interest will continue to focus on technology, health care, consumer, business and financial services,” said the <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-2014-venture-capital-review/$FILE/EY-2014-venture-capital-review-1.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> that was released last week.
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<figure id="attachment_3817" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3817" style="width: 530px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EY-VC-sectors.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3817 size-full" src="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EY-VC-sectors-e1425951102256.png" alt="EY VC sectors" width="530" height="422" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3817" class="wp-caption-text">EY VC sectors</figcaption></figure>
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EY said the global VC-backed deal activity is likely to continue its bullish trend, driven by a consistent pipeline of new initial public offering (IPO) listings along with improved investor and general partner confidence.
Last year saw $86.7 billion invested in 6,507 deals, hitting the highest annual investment mark since 2000. This strong investment activity was seen in the second and fourth quarters of 2014, with both quarters recording more than $20 billion funding with more than 1,500 deals each, another <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Venture_Capital_Insights_4Q14_-_January_2015/$FILE/ey-venture-capital-insights-4Q14.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> noted.
In 2014, VC funding was at its all time high for the three key VC markets – the US, Europe and China – compared to the levels seen globally in 2008. During the year, while investments increased by 47 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively, for the US and Europe, it almost tripled for China compared to 2013. Strong activity in the information technology and consumer services sector drove this increase in China.
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<figure id="attachment_3811" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3811" style="width: 530px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EY-VC-e1425907024595.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3811 size-full" src="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EY-VC-e1425951187281.png" alt="EY's chart showing the robust global VC industry in 2014." width="530" height="266" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3811" class="wp-caption-text">EY&#8217;s chart showing the robust global VC industry in 2014.</figcaption></figure>
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The consumer services sector received the most investment, in terms of the amount invested in 2014, driven by large-sized funding deals of mobile-based platform companies such as <a href="https://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber Technologies</a>, <a href="https://www.snapchat.com/" target="_blank">Snapchat</a>, <a href="https://www.instacart.com/" target="_blank">Instacart</a> and <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/" target="_blank">Flipkart International Private Limited</a>. This sector has been taking the lead in the past three years.
The sector attracted $29 billion of investment in 2014, the highest amount invested in the sector in the last six years.
It led all the other sectors with 1,690 deals, closely followed by the business and financial services sector with 1,682 deals.
In terms of geography, the Bay Area maintained its lead during 2014 with amount invested almost twice the levels seen in 2013. Beijing made a comeback in the top five hotbeds replacing UK, recording a 237 per cent increase in the amount invested compared to 2013.
The median deal size at seed round class stage increased in 2014 across all markets, suggesting investor sentiment remains positive and that VC investors preferred to make bigger investments in young startups globally.
This was in exception of Israel which saw a marginal decline with median value decreasing from $700,000 in 2013 to $600,000 in 2014.
Most of the seed funding ticket sizes were concentrated in the $500,000 and $600,000 range.
Investments at the later stage almost doubled in 2014 compared to the historical levels. A similar trend was also seen for investments made in companies operating at generating revenue stage. VC investors made larger investments in the early stage round classes as noted by the increased median deal sizes for most markets in 2014.
During the year, the median deal size also increased across all stages of development, and across all VC geographies, compared to 2013.
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2014 was a record year in terms of venture capital (VC) investment activity and 2015 will likely continue that upward trend, according to EY.

VC-backed deal activity to continue bullish trend in 2015: EY Report

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VC-backed deal activity to continue bullish trend in 2015: EY Report

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