Low-value deals (where the investment was less than or equal to $10m) accounted for the majority of global venture capital (VC) investment volume during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

A total of 5,093 deals with disclosed funding value were announced globally during Q1, of which 65.3% were low-value deals, while the share of deals valued more than $100m stood at just 5.6%.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “VC funding activity appears to be optimistic in 2021 so far. Although low-value deals continued to dominate, the share of these deals registered consistent month-on-month decline, which is indicative of the fact that now investors are not shying away from placing bets in big-ticket deals. In fact, Q1 witnessed the announcement of 14 deals valued more than $1bn.”

VC investment volume (deals with disclosed deal value) increased by 3.2% from 1,603 deals in January to 1,654 in February and further increased by 11% to 1,836 in March 2021. In January 2021, the share of low-value deals, as a proportion of the total deal volume stood at 67.6%, while the share of deals valued more than $100m stood at just 5.4%. This month witnessed the announcement of two deals valued more than $1bn.

In February, the share of low-value deals, as a proportion of the total deal volume declined to 65.8%. The share of deals valued more than $100m also declined to 4.6%. This month witnessed the announcement of eleven deals valued more than $1bn.

In March, the share of low-value deals further declined to 63%, while the share of deals valued more than $100m increased to 6.6%. This month saw the announcement of one deal valued more than $1bn.