RALEIGH – Global venture capital deal counts took a dip in Q2, according to the latest PitchBook data. And while activity in the US showed deal count increases for both early-stage and venture growth, deal value was lower than anticipated.

Global inflation and heightened geo-political tensions were two key points of pressure, according to the first-look report.

“At a high level, there’s a lot of headwinds for venture-backed startups,” said Scot Wingo, Tweener fund founder and serial entrepreneur, who shared his thoughts with WRAL TechWire via email. “The good news is, it tends to be isolated to the late-stage (Series C/D/E) ‘unicorn class.’”

According to Wingo, the unicorns—“mostly in Silicon Valley”—are sorting challenges related to valuations and an inability to raise capital. But Wingo doesn’t feel this will have a big effect on Triangle-area startups.

“Here in the Triangle, our startups are younger—many more in that Seed/A/B phase,” said Wingo. “And the investment activity is still quite robust.”

Wingo’s Tweener Fund recently announced 18 different investments—a new record for the fund.

Triangle Tweener fund steps up deal making with 14 new investments, deals

“Most of these rounds were led by VCs outside the Triangle, coming to our area because our founders haven’t gone crazy on valuations, are more capital efficient, and working on a very diverse set of industries,” said Wingo.

I also spoke with Jim Roberts, founder of the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW) and the Wilmington Angels for Local Entrepreneurs (WALE).

He pointed to the recent Tweener Fund records as an example of local success – and shared that the WALE Angel Network just made its 18th investment (in Boreas Monitoring Solutions).

Roberts admitted that there is “something in the air” troubling the VC world—but he believes there is “plenty” of investor activity in the area.

He pointed to a number of upcoming investor events in the Southeast, including 3686 in Nashville, Venture Atlanta, and the ConvergeSouth north of Charlotte.

And also mentioned that NEW hosted an event in April that featured 53 different investors.

“So I think that shows interest in finding new deal flow,” said Roberts.

Fundraising on track for 2017-era lows—but should NC be concerned?

The PitchBook data indicate that exit value will finish the year at over $20 billion, the lowest in the past decade by almost $50 billion.

Meanwhile, fundraising for the year is on pace for the lowest total since 2017, closing Q2 at $33 billion.

US VC data from the Q2 2023 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor | Full report will be available July 13

But Wingo says the diversity of industries in our startup ecosystem will help protect our area from these trends.

“This diversity of industry means we miss big hype/bust cycles and are more steady as a region,” Wingo told me.

I also spoke with Robbie Hardy, local “entrepreneurologist” and founder of Durham-based xElle Ventures, an Angel fund designed to empower women investors.

Hardy talkeed about the difficulty of applying trends from global data sets to local markets.

‘Entrepreneurologist,’ investor Robbie Hardy’s new book aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs 

“I think it’s really hard to blend entrepreneurial communities into a global view,” Hardy told me. “My opinion is that the data does not support it because so many factors come into play, and what’s good in London might not be relevant in RTP.”

Bottom line, Hardy says, is that there are so many factors—it can be difficult to understand what will impact our local markets.

And she thinks our local market is doing fine.

“We have some great startups here, and, yes, they now have to work smarter to grab their market share, raise money, etc.—it’s not easy,” said Hardy. “But we also have a great ecosystem here—collaboration is common, and the general feeling is that we should all rise together, and you see founders and investors and teams helping each other to succeed. It’s not that there is no  competition because, of course, there is… but this has always been a great place for being able to find help where you least expect it.”