Drawing on PitchBook-NVCA data, this piece shows global VC funding fell from $531 billion in 2022 to roughly $345 billion in 2023, while fundraising by VC firms themselves dropped even more sharply, from $307 billion to $161 billion, the lowest since $119.3 billion in 2015. Q4 2023 alone saw startups raise just $76.6 billion globally, the weakest year end total since 2017, with deal volume and value both hitting three year lows. Yet US early-stage data tells a steadier story: median seed deal value matched the 2022 record of $3 million, average seed deal size rose to $1.3 million, last seen in 2006, and median seed pre-money valuation climbed from $11 million to $12 million, even as post-Series A valuations shrank.

Founders heading into a fundraise get a specific, numbers backed reason not to over-generalize from the scary global headline figures, since the same PitchBook-NVCA data that shows fundraising collapsing overall also shows US seed valuations and deal sizes actually holding up or improving through that same period. This distinction between the seed stage and everything above it matters directly for a founder deciding whether current conditions justify delaying a raise or accepting worse terms than they might otherwise have needed to accept at all in this cycle. The piece's closing pivot toward R&D tax credits as a non-dilutive funding source is also a practical takeaway for cash strapped founders trying to extend runway without a down round in a tighter market.