Venture funding in July was less than half of what it was a year prior

Just as July plunged us Northern Hemispherians deeper into the summer heat, it also furthered the trend of declining venture investment.

Last month, global VCs invested $28 billion, per Crunchbase, down 56% year over year from $63 billion last July, and a 34% drop from this June. It’s the lowest monthly total since November 2020.

Even so, plenty of startups managed to nab impressive funding rounds. In particular, many of July’s biggest rounds went to climate tech startups, which could prove particularly resilient in the VC downturn.

• Northvolt, Europe’s top battery maker, raised $2.75 billion—the month’s most mega round. Check out our interview with a Northvolt VP about how the company plans to scale battery production.
• Xpansiv, a carbon trading platform, raised $400 million in the biggest round of the quarter.
• Monolith, a clean hydrogen producer, was right behind it with a $300 million round.
• TAE Technologies, a nuclear-fusion startup, netted $250 million.

Zoom out: As has been the case throughout the ongoing VC pullback, investment is declining across all deal stages, but late-stage investment is falling faster than early-stage companies. Put another way: The earlier the stage, the slower the decline.

Meanwhile, seed funding is actually up year over year, as was also the case across all of Q2. The category typically accounts for the smallest share of venture dollars—it made up less than 10% in July—which plays to its advantage in a moment when big, splashy investments are out.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that TAE Technologies raised $250 billion, which is inaccurate. It raised $250 million. Apologies for the error.