The US venture capital (VC) funding activity made a slow start in 2024, with the first month of the year seeing a year-on-year (YoY) decline in deals volume and value by 61.2% and 37% compared to January 2023, respectively, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that a total of 281 VC funding deals worth $5.1 billion were announced in the US during January 2024 compared to the announcement of 725 VC funding deals with a disclosed funding value of $8 billion during the same period in the previous year.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Several start-ups began the new year with layoff announcements. For instance, Aurora Solar, DispatchHealth, Brex, and Noom were among the many other start-ups, which were in the news in January due to their layoff announcements. This suggests that the funding winter is far from getting over, and resultantly, we are seeing start-ups across several key markets, including the US, struggling to raise funds as investors seem to have become extra cautious.”

Despite the decline, the US still continues to be the largest market for VC funding activity globally, both in terms of value and volume. The US accounted for 24.6% of the total number of VC funding deals announced globally during January 2024, while its share of the corresponding disclosed deal value stood at 36%.

Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in the US during January 2024 included $140 million worth of funding raised by Zum Services Inc, $105 million secured by COUR Pharma, $102 million funding received by Synnovation Therapeutics, and $100 million secured by ExtraHop Networks and Second Dinner each.

Moreover, the US also saw the birth of three unicorns, Quantinuum, Zum Services, and Eleven Labs Inc., in January 2024. Interestingly, two of these are active in the AI space. While ElevenLabs is an AI voice cloning start-up, Zum Services is deploying AI-powered innovation for student transportation.

Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain