Big-ticket, billion-dollar deals were mostly non-existent during Q4 2020, as low-value deals (where the investment was less than or equal to $10m) accounted for the majority of global venture capital (VC) investment volume, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Of the total 3,603 global deals during the quarter that disclosed deal value, 66.2% were low-value deals, while those valued more than $100m stood at just 4.2%.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “With tough market conditions and uncertain business environment, cautiousness prevails among investors while committing big-ticket investment. Investors are, therefore, turning towards low-value deals.”

VC investment volume (deals with disclosed deal value) decreased by 14.7% from 1,357 deals in October to 1,158 in November and further shrank by 6% to 1,088 in December 2020. In October 2020, low-value deals, as a percentage of the total deal volume, stood at 69.1%, while the share of deals valued more than $100m stood at just 3.8%. This month did not see announcement of any deal valued more than $1bn.

Similarly, the share of low-value deals, as a percentage of the total deal volume in November, accounted for 66.7%, while the share of deals valued more than $100m stood at 3.7%. This month witnessed announcement of one deal valued more than $1bn.

Finally, in December the share of low-value deals accounted for 62%, while the share of deals valued more than $100m increased to 5.3%. This month saw announcement of one deal valued more than $1bn.