FUNDRAISING efforts globally by venture capital (VC) firms took longer and were for lower targeted capital in 2023, according to a report by data platform Preqin.

The bulk of VCs polled, 30 per cent, took between 19 and 24 months to raise capital in 2023. 20 per cent of VCs took 25 to 30 months and another 20 per cent took 13 to 18 months.

This is in stark contrast to 2022 and 2021, where most VCs took 13 to 18 months to raise capital.

The number of funds on the fundraising hunt is increasing, hitting a high of 6,487 in January 2024, but aggregated capital targeted has fallen to US$437 billion, a 3 per cent drop from US$449.9 billion in a September 2023 survey.

In South-east Asia, VC fundraising recovered slightly in the fourth quarter of 2023, with about US$270 million raised, an improvement over US$190 million raised in the third quarter. However, that amount was flat against the fourth quarter of 2022.

Exits in South-east Asia fared poorly in 2023 as well, with the region only recording US$2.5 billion in exit value for the year. This was concentrated in the third and fourth quarter of 2023, with no exit value recorded for the first and second quarter of 2023.

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