U.S. renewable energy company Invenergy Renewables LLC raised $3 billion in January, the biggest funding round globally and the driver of last month's four-year high of $51.27 billion in global venture investment, which was up 113.2% from the comparable period in 2019, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

However, the number of venture capital deals last month was down slightly at 1,638 when measured against the 1,664 transactions that were executed in January 2021.

Rounds of funding

Invenergy secured $3.00 billion in a mature round from Blackstone Inc., through funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners LP, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. It was followed by Citadel Securities LLC, which collected $1.15 billion in a mature round led by Sequoia Capital Operations LLC at a post-money valuation of $22.00 billion. The third-largest deal was U.K.-based online payment solutions company Checkout Ltd., which received $1.00 billion in a series D round from primary investors including Altimeter Capital Management LP and Dragoneer Investment Group LLC, rendering a post-money valuation of $40.00 billion.

In January, venture capital firms invested $26.9 billion across 617 transactions in the U.S. and Canada. Businesses in Asia-Pacific received $10.7 billion across 528 transactions, while companies in Europe racked up $10.4 billion across 371 transactions.

Technology, media and telecommunications preference

The technology, media and telecommunications sector remains the biggest recipient of venture capital, accounting for almost half of the total investment in January at 45.9%. Businesses in the healthcare, financials and consumer sectors have thrived since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and continue to rank among the top sectors pulling capital.

Despite Invenergy's contribution to January's global venture investment amount, the energy and utilities sector received only 7.8% of total capital. The least amount of investment is in the materials and real estate sectors.