Social Network Industry: North America's Top Investors in Late Funding Rounds

Intro

Social network is a vast field that encompasses many different categories and opportunities that are all ultimately focused on forging connections between people. Different projects in the social networking field are able to come up with new and unique ways of allowing people to come together, share valuable information, or connect with each other in other ways. Though to many, the mention of social networking might bring to mind social media, such as the big names Twitter and Facebook, the field is not necessarily limited to that. It can also include social shopping, recruiting, online forums, as well as a myriad of other social network services. Opportunities in the field are nearly limitless, whether they are smaller projects focusing on a group of people with a niche interest or ones that cater more broadly to the needs and wants of the general public. Given that this is an actively growing industry, it will not be surprising that the amount of money raised in Social Network funding rounds over the last five years amounts to $16.9B and accounts for 1.5% of the total amount raised in Late funding rounds in North America over the last five years. The following chart and article outline the top 20 North American investors, including both VC funds and corporate investors, who are actively investing in the industry and have been over the course of the past 5 years. The list is focused specifically on investors that have invested and are currently investing in Late rounds. The calculations were made according to the total amount of money raised in the funding rounds. Statistics for said funding rounds are outlined below.

Social Network Industry: North America's Top Investors in Late Funding Rounds
data provided by Unicorn Nest

Key takeaways

• Funds Geography - All VCs are located in The United States, with the majority being hosted in California, home to 11 funds. Also notable are funds from New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland. New York and Menlo Park host an equal amount of funds, at 5 each. Additionally, there are funds from San Francisco and Palo Alto. The majority of the funds tend to invest in startups from the country of their establishment, so most money is drawn towards The United States. However, they also invest in startups from Panama and China.
• Industry Focus - The funds' most common field for investments is Finance, however, they also invest in Enterprise Software, Business Development, and Mobile/Apps.
• Important Years - The oldest fund in the sample was founded in 1869 and the newest one in 2017. The most amount of funds in any year were founded in 2000. The years with the most deals range from 2000 to 2021 for the VCs in the samples. It is worth noting, however, that for some funds 2018 turned out to be the year with the most amount of deals. When it comes to successful exits, the biggest amount happened in the period between 2013 and 2020. For some funds, 2016 became the year with the most successful exits.
• Investments - Funds equally often participate in 2 and 7-12 funding rounds per year. The number of funding rounds for VCs in the sample ranges from a minimum of 3  to a maximum of 951. The average and median of funding rounds both fall on the lower end of the spectrum, however, with the former being 289.8 rounds and the latter being 161.5. The most common amount of funding rounds for VCs in the sample falls close to the median at 126. When it comes to lead investments, the amount ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 276, with the average falling at 77.4 and the median dipping lower at 43.5. Index of difference in percentage points of lead investments from the average ranges between -37.67 and 29.0 for funds in the sample. Given also that the average value for this difference is 0.55 and the median is 4.09, this shows that these funds act as lead investors more often than other funds.
• Typical Rounds - VCs usually participate in rounds with 4 - 5 investors. Less often in rounds with 6 - 7 investors. VCs in the sample have an average round size of 100-500 million or 50 - 100 million. A Funds’ average multiplicator for portfolio companies at the last known valuation is 0.1 at minimum and 1186000000.0 at maximum. The average value for this multiplicator is 204482456.56 and the median is 1.36.
• Typical Rounds - VCs in the sample will usually participate in rounds with 4-5 investors and will partake less often in rounds with 6-7 investors. Their average round size amounts to 100-500 million or 50-100 million. A Funds' average multiplier for portfolio companies at the last known valuation is 0.1 at minimum and 1186000000.0 at maximum. The average for the multiplier falls at 204482456.56, however, the median is decidedly at the lower end of the spectrum at 1.36.