Q4 2015 Venture Financing Deal Volume Remains Strong

Palo Alto – February 4, 2016 – Cooley released its Q4 2015 Venture Capital Financing Report, which saw that valuations declined across all deal stages – with the exception of Series B transactions – but overall deal activity remained strong.

"Late stage valuations had surged in the third quarter to a level not seen in several years," said Craig Jacoby, head of Cooley's emerging companies practice. "The waters have receded somewhat, but the high level of deal activity speaks to confidence in the market that there are a lot of strong companies deserving of financing."

The most notable valuation decrease as compared to Q3 occurred in Series D+ deals. The percentage of up rounds remained strong at 88% of Q4 transactions.

Deal terms during the quarter were mixed. The use of fully participating preferred provisions decreased from last quarter, while the use of both drag-along and pay-to-play provisions increased.

The report is based on disclosed transactions during the fourth calendar quarter of 2015 in which Cooley served as counsel to either the issuing company or the investor.

For more venture financing trends, view the interactive data visualization on Cooley GO.

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