Startups

Venture Dealmaking Reflects Selective Tastes of Investors

Artificial intelligence firms received more than one-third of the funds in the third quarter. 

The startup announced Wednesday that it raised $6.6 billion at a valuation of $157 billion.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Venture dealmaking hobbled along at a slightly better pace than a year ago in dollar terms, but cash went to a relative handful of companies, underscoring the increasingly selective spending in the sector.

There were an estimated 3,777 U.S. deals for $37.9 billion in the third quarter, about an 8% uptick in the value of the transactions compared with the year-earlier period, according to data released Thursday by Pitchbook.