The impact of COVID-19 on venture capital´s level of investments

Abstract

This investigation analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on venture capitals' investment levels, including American and European venture capital firms. By employing regression analysis, it is found that venture capitals lowered their investment levels by 2.5% due to the macroeconomic shock and the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. When comparing regions, the virus's impact is more severe in the European countries, accounting for a 4% decrease in the raised amount, while American deals did not present a significant change. These drops, however, can only be seen in the seed funding rounds, being early and later stages not significantly affected by the pandemic. We argue that the entrepreneurial activity is being affected by the fear and uncertainty about the future and that venture capitals are focusing more on existing funds than looking for new investments, leading to a lower seed investment level. Lastly, it is studied the impact of the pandemic on two industries - Healthcare and Technology. Results yielded an increase of 6% in the raised amounts relative to healthcare companies, while technology companies received 5% less funding since the COVID-19 outbreak. As an explanation, it is argued that healthcare represented a growing need for everyone under lockdown.

Date of Award	25 Jan 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Eva Schliephake (Supervisor)