Venture capital, or VC, investment was off to a strong start in the second half of 2021, and transaction activity was particularly high in sectors such as e-commerce, automotive, financial technology, healthcare, and internet software and services as the pandemic rearranged priorities and accelerated the shift to the digital world.
Securing the biggest funding round in July was Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart Pvt. Ltd., according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
 Source: John M Lund Photography Inc./DigitalVision via Getty Images |
The India-based e-commerce company pulled in $3.6 billion in a mature funding round co-led by SoftBank Investment Advisers (UK) Ltd.'s SoftBank Vision Fund 2, giving it a post-money valuation of $37.60 billion. Electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive Inc. and sustainable infrastructure-focused specialty finance company Generate Capital Inc. grabbed the second and third spots, raising $2.50 billion and $2.00 billion, respectively.
Rounding out the top five VC transactions for the month are Chinese energy technology company Svolt Energy Technology Co. Ltd., which raised about $1.58 billion in series B financing, and e-learning software company Articulate Global LLC, which obtained $1.5 billion in series A financing at a post-money valuation of $3.75 billion. General Atlantic Service Co. LP led the round for Articulate, with participation from funds managed by The Blackstone Group Inc. unit Blackstone Growth Advisors LLC.
In addition to Articulate, a handful of other newly minted unicorns, or privately held companies that crossed the $1 billion valuation mark, announced funding rounds in July. A series B funding round backed by Thoma Bravo LLC and Insight Partners brought in $900 million for cryptocurrency exchange company FTX Trading at an $18 billion post-money valuation, while Blackstone's Horizon platform led a $350 million series D funding round for Carbon Health Medical Group Inc. Cyber insurance technology company At-Bay Inc. also ponied up $185 million in a series D funding round co-led by Icon Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners at a post-money valuation of $1.35 billion.
Continuing the strong momentum recorded in the first half of 2021, startups globally racked up roughly $63.12 billion across 1,598 funding rounds in July, more than doubling the approximately $27.53 billion they amassed during the same month a year earlier.
VC investors deployed approximately $306.98 billion in the first half, up 150.5% from about $122.55 billion in the same period in 2020.
Geographically, companies in North America secured approximately $31.83 billion across 578 funding rounds in July. Companies in Asia-Pacific garnered $20.44 billion in 552 funding rounds, while those in Europe drummed up about $8.17 billion across 368 transactions during the month.
Venture rounds accounted for the biggest share of VC transactions for the month at roughly $22.41 billion, followed by mature rounds at about $20.35 billion. Growth, early stage and debt rounds reached approximately $19.17 billion, $1.04 billion and $155.1 million, respectively.
