Biotech proved a surprisingly bright spot in 2022’s startup correction TechCrunch

No startup sector was entirely immune from the 2022’s market uncertainty — except maybe AI — but some proved more resilient than others. Biotech was one of the most fortunate.

The sector recorded 1,054 U.S.-based deals in 2022, worth a collective $30.7 billion, according to Pitchbook data. Those figures fell short of the 1,415 biotech deals struck in 2021 worth a total of $39 billion. But the declines were not the worst we found: Biotech showed a more modest year-over-year decline in investment volume (21%) than many other sectors including fintech (37.7%), consumer tech (53%) and enterprise tech (33%).

Comparing any sector’s results to 2021 is slightly specious, as that year was the peak of the last startup boom. Compared to 2020’s more conservative 1,143 biotech deals worth $29.6 billion, last year wrapped up on par.

U.S. biotech deals also set new records in 2022 for both median deal size, $33.5 million, and median valuation, $38 million.

Biotech investors told TechCrunch that while they definitely felt the squeeze of the overall economic conditions last year — and noticed tourist investors shying away from the category, similar to other sectors — many weren’t surprised that the category performed better than some of the other more buzzy industries for a few key reasons.

Biotech proved a surprisingly bright spot in 2022’s startup correction by Rebecca Szkutak originally published on TechCrunch

 While not totally immune to 2022’s market correction, biotech fundraising proved to be more resilient than other sectors.
Biotech proved a surprisingly bright spot in 2022’s startup correction by Rebecca Szkutak originally published on TechCrunch 

​TechCrunch