US-based startups raised the highest amount of venture capital (VC) funding in 2021 globally, according to GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company reveals that 13,204 VC funding deals were announced in the US during 2021, while the disclosed funding value of these deals stood at $354.5 billion.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “2021 has been a great year for US investment. Analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that the value of VC funding more than doubled in 2021, compared to the previous year, seeing a year-on-year (YoY) jump of 164.7%. Meanwhile, deal volume also increased by 44.8%.”

However, the VC funding landscape in the US had its share of ups and downs, when analyzing month-on-month. For example, December 2021 witnessed decline in VC funding deal volume as well as value, when compared to November 2021.

Bose continues: “Investor sentiments appear to have taken a dent in recent months, which could be attributed to the Omicron variant. However, going by historical trends, long-term prospects for the US VC funding landscape look bright.”

After suffering a setback in 2020, investors placed big bets in 2021. A total 26 billion-dollar deals (valued more than or equal to $1 billion) were announced in the US during 2021, the highest worldwide.

Notable big-ticket VC funding deals in 2021 include $2.4 billion funding raised by Robinhood Financial in February, $2 billion funding raised by GM Cruise Holdings in January, $1.8 billion raised by Commonwealth Fusion Systems in December, $1.6 billion raised by Databricks in August, and $1.5 billion raised by Articulate Global in July.

David Leggett, Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Start-ups that address future high-growth market areas are the ones doing well for attracting VC finance in the automotive sector. Examples are tech development specialists in areas of advanced technology with obvious automotive applications—such as robotics, AI and cybersecurity. The presence of an automotive OEM such as GM, in the case of Cruise, provides added reassurance to investors that the start-up will be focused and steered towards market-ready products as soon as possible, but with no corners cut.”