INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Before the COVID-19 pandemic shook up the world and reshaped the economy, Boston was quietly setting records.
According to new venture data
compiled by TechCrunch, the region set what was at least a local maximum in venture capital raised in the space of a single quarter in Q1
2020.
But while Boston startup market announced a number of huge rounds that bolstered its total venture dollars raised in the first
quarter, there were signs of weakness: Deal volume was its best since Q2 2019, according to a set of data compiled and released by PwC and
CB Insights, but was still a little under the pace set in 2018.
So Boston startups raised lots of money, but couldn&t match prior highs when
it came to the number of checks written
And those results were largely recorded before COVID-19 shuttered the city
Since then, we&ve seen a number of area startups lay off staff, something we explored last week.
Now, with fresh data in hand, we can take a
closer look at the city first quarter of 2020
To better understand what we&re unpacking, we asked a number of local venture capitalists to weigh in
Let look back at Boston Q1 as we stride into Q2 with the help of Venture Lane, .406 Ventures, Volition Capital and Flybridge Capital
Partners.
The data
Starting with a programming note is counter-flow, but bear with us
TechCrunch is starting a regular, monthly series on Boston and its startup market
This is a second prelude of sorts
Normally we&d hold news and interviews for a later date so that we&d have plenty of material for a column
In the face of relentless change, however, we didn&t want to hold off on reporting and synthesizing new information
When things are more normal, our pace will follow.
Per PwC and CB Insights, here the last few quarters of data, along with a few yearly
totals to draw you the picture we can now see:
