In the second major report about venture capital financing across North Carolina reviewed by WRAL TechWire, this one from CB Insights, there are substantial differences from the data reported last week by the National Venture Capital Association. Fewer deals, fewer dollars.

According to CB Insights and its partner KPMG, North Carolina startups and emerging companies raised $93 million across 17 deals.

That’s far below the NVCA/PitchBook report of 36 deals for $168 million. CB Insight’s dollar total is the lowest in the five most recent quarters and also drops below the $100 million mark reported over the past eight.

“Top Deals” as broken out by CB Insights from its data at WTWE’s request include:

  • Phononic Devices at $30M
  • Metabolon at $15M
  • Viamet Pharmaceuticals at $12M

One big deal is missing that would account for a major part of the difference in reporting: The $50 million raised by G1 Therapeutics, as reported by NVCA.

Money/deal total tracking

The third quarter was far below the remarkable 3Q of 2015 in which N.C. firms raised money like they hadn’t since the “dot com” boom. NVCA reported more than $300 million in deals last year.

However, CB Insights reported 20 deals producing $500 million.

To put CB Insights numbers in perspective, here are its deal totals and dollars for the past five quarters:

  • Q3 2016: 17 deals, $93M
  • Q2 2016: 15 deals, $188M
  • Q1 2016: 18 deals, $200M
  • Q4 2016: 17 deals, $106M

Deals by category

Internet-related investments continue to dominate deals, according to CB Insights.

By category:

  • Internet, 35 percent
  • Software, 31 percent
  • Mobile & Telecom, 19 percent
  • Consumer products & services, 9 percent
  • Healthcare, 6 percent

Internet deals have ranged from 35 to 57 percent of deals over the past five quarters.

Healthcare’s total was the lowest over that period.

Differing criteria

Why the differences?

Each report has different criteria for what is and what is not a VC deal, so there is seldom a great deal of agreement.

Still to be reviewed is data from Dow Jones VentureSource and PricewaterhouseCoopers. WTW will review the Dow Jones data shortly. PwC data is set for publication on Friday.

Why the comparisons?

WTW has in recent months begun surveying multiple VC reports, especially with the emergence of CB Insights as a fast-growing, reputable source of global venture capital deals, from investment to exit. The NVCA’s decision to partner with PitchBook for data rather than PwC and Thomson Reuters means that there are now four major reports to review.

Plus, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development has its own means of tracking startup and emerging company data.

So, the numbers can get confusing.

As for which of the reports is the “crown jewel” of thorough, reliable information … well, each report has its own advocates. WTW will let the numbers speak for each – and we will be bringing in local investors as well as entrepreneurs and industry watchers to assess what’s really going on.

Our hope is that by comparing and analyzing data from each report every quarter WTW can present to the startup and investor ecosystem a better overview of what’s happening in our state – and region. (More on that to come later.)

CB Insights report highlights

The drop in N.C. deals from the previous quarter and year-over-year was not unique.

Here are some highlights from the global and U.S. perspective:

  • US funding slumps: US funding dropped to $14B, down 18% from Q2’16. Quarterly deals stood at 1067, ticking downwards 2% from the prior quarter.
  • Late-stage deal sizes continue fall: Median late-stage deal size in North America ended the quarter at $22.4M, down 34 from the heady sizes seen in Q3’15.
  • Early-stage deal share hits low: Seed to Series A deal share in North America fell to 49% of all deals to VC-backed companies, representing a 5-quarter low. Seed share in particular, saw a noticeable decline.
  • Early-stage deal size outpaces EU, Asia: While North American early-stage deal share fell, the median size of these deals remained at $3M, well above that of Europe and Asia.

Read the full report at:

http://cbinsights.com/research-q3-venture-pulse