Venture capital funding was cut in half in the first six months of 2023, according to Crunchbase. The dropoff has triggered an uptick in pre-empted deals, where investors back the most exciting startups. Payrails, Cello, and ElevenLabs are among the startups to close pre-emptive deals this year. Venture capital funding to startups has continued to collapse in 2023. The slowdown has led to something of an uptick in pre-empted funding rounds, where investors come forward with deal terms to exciting early-stage businesses before they even begin fundraising.

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Persons: VCs, Tom Mendoza Organizations: Venture, Crunchbase, Energy, EQT Ventures Locations: London, Berlin