附近上门

certainly came in like a lion this March.

The San Francisco-based firm 鈥� whose previous investments include , and 鈥� made headlines earlier this month as the lead investor in San Francisco-based AI startup 鈥檚 $300 million round at a valuation of more than $4 billion.

Less than a week after that news broke, Spark co-led another San Francisco company’s big round 鈥� this time 鈥檚 $350 million Series B that reportedly gave the startup a post-money valuation of at least $1 billion.

The two big rounds were a change of pace for Spark, which had significantly decreased its investment pace last year as the market cooled down and venture capital dramatically slowed 鈥� especially for big growth rounds.

Looking at the numbers

Like many firms, Spark Capital hit a high in dealmaking in 2021, per 附近上门 data. The company made 66 announced investments in deals that totaled $6.4 billion. It鈥檚mportant to note the amount any investor 鈥� including Spark Capital 鈥� invests as a specific stake in a round is not usually divulged.

Spark鈥檚 dealmaking pace hit a high in the second quarter that year, but has significantly slowed since.

Last year, Spark took part in 45 鈥� a聽 more than 30% drop 鈥� rounds that totaled about $2 billion.

Both the Anthropic and Adept AI deals were large rounds to lead, which also is a recent change for the firm. Spark took a more hands-off approach to leading or co-leading big rounds last year when compared to 2021 鈥� according to 附近上门 numbers.

In 2021, Spark led or co-led four rounds of more than $100 million:

• Spark co-led New York-based blockchain security firm 鈥� $310 million Series D and its $550 million Series E.
• It led Toronto-based chatbot startup 鈥檚 $130 million Series C.
• Co-led San Francisco-based 鈥� $115 million Series C.

However, in 2022, the two biggest rounds Spark led or co-led were a $115 million Series B for San Francisco-based and a $40 million Series B for Serbia-based .

In fact, Spark led or co-led only 15 rounds last year, but already has done four in 2023.

Only time will tell if Spark keeps up leading big rounds 鈥� nothing is hotter than all things AI at the moment 鈥� or if this month will prove an outlier and it goes into the rest of the year like a lamb.

Spark Capital did not return a request to comment.

Further reading:

• Tiger Catnapped As 2022 Wore On
• Insight Partners鈥� Dealmaking Slows Substantially
• What Slowdown? Founders Fund Latest To Close Two New Monster Funds
• Founders Fund鈥檚 Investment Pace Slowed Ahead Of Fund Cut

Illustration: Dom Guzman