After raising more than $20 bln in funding rounds in 2021 and 2022, crypto startups find it difficult to get fresh capital these days. Although the entire market significantly recovered from the 2022 crypto winter, investors’ interest in crypto startups remains low.
According to data presented by AltIndex.com, crypto startups have raised $2.1 bln year-to-date, or nearly 80% less than last year.
So far, 2023 has been a challenging year for crypto fundraising as investors continue pulling back, fearing risks from regulatory twists and an uncertain economy. This came as a shock to the market that saw impressive investments in the past few years.
According to Crunchbase data, crypto startups raised $1.1 bln in 2019. A year later, this figure jumped to almost $1.7 bln.
Market exploded
Still, that was nothing compared to investment growth in 2021, when the entire crypto market exploded. That year alone, crypto startups raised $11.1 bln in funding rounds, or six times more than a year before.
Statistics show 2022 saw just as impressive $10.1 bln worth of investments, pushing a two-year total funding amount to over $20 bln.
However, 2023 was nothing like that, with crypto startups raising only $2.17 bln year-to-date, five times less than last year.
Moreover, the Crunchbase data show venture capital flowing into the industry has fallen for three straight quarters.
In Q1 and Q2, crypto startups raised over $800 mln, 80% less than in the same quarters a year ago. Between July and September, the total funding amount dropped by a further 90% to $426 mln.
Statistics show crypto startup funding continued to grow more scare, with only $75 mln raised in the past month and a half, turning Q4 into potentially one of the worst quarters in years.
50% Went to US Crypto Startups
Even with investors pulling back from the market, crypto startups have raised impressive amounts of money in funding rounds over the years.
According to Crunchbase data, companies in the crypto space have raised nearly $30 bln so far, and two-thirds of that value came from deals in 2021 and 2022.
Statistics show US companies raised nearly half the total funding value, or $14.1 bln, with California and San Francisco as the leading hubs.
European companies hit $7.5 bln in total funding, twice less than their US peers. Asian crypto startups follow with $4.8 bln raised in funding rounds so far.
