North America dominated VC funding landscape in Q1 2021 while EMEA region registered significant growth, finds GlobalData

Global venture capital (VC) funding witnessed moderate growth during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 with North America continuing to attract the highest number of investments, while Europe and Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region witnessed significant growth in deals volume as well as corresponding share, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The number of VC funding deals that were announced globally increased marginally by 0.7% from 2,069 in January to 2,084 in February, and further grew by 10.6% to 2,305 deals in March 2021.

Despite a notable decline in share in March, North America maintained its dominance by accounting for 45.6% of global VC investment volume in Q1 2021, followed by APAC with 28.1%, Europe with 20.8% share, Middle East and Africa with 3.7% share and South and Central America with 1.8%.

Though North America registered consistent month-on-month growth in February and March, it was relatively much lesser when compared to regions such as Europe and Middle East and Africa, which also witnessed consistent growth in the number of VC investments. Resultantly, Europe’s and Middle East and Africa’s share of global VC investment volume increased from 19.9% and 3% in January to 22% and 4.1% in March, respectively. Meanwhile, North America’s share declined from 46.6% in January to 43.4% in March.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, says: “VC funding activity in 2021 started on a promising note with March showcasing a significant jump in deal volume. This could be attributed to a revival of investor sentiments due to ongoing vaccination programs. Moreover, investor sentiments also seem to be buoyed more notably in March with markets such as the UK nearing the end of lockdown restrictions.”

VC funding volume in North America increased from 965 deals in January to 979 deals in February and further increased to 1,000 deals in March. While APAC experienced a fluctuating funding trend during Q1 2021. The region experienced a dip from 595 in January to 551 in February but bounced back strongly with 669 deals in March.

Europe witnessed VC funding volume increasing by 3.4% and 19% in February and March, while Middle East and Africa registered a growth of 32.3% and 15.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, South and Central America experienced decline in VC deal volume in March after displaying growth in February.

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