Venture Capital (VC) investment globally skyrocketed in the previous quarter especially in Singapore, where investment reached US$725.3m with 26 deals.
According to the KPMG Enterprise's Venture Pulse Q2 2017, this came as the global VC deal value jumped 55.3 percent to US$40.1b, on the back of an uptick in mega-deals.
KMPG Head of Financial Services Advisory Chia Tek Yew said the US$550m mega round raised by Singapore-based Sea, formerly known as Garena, helped skew total VC invested in Singapore to its second-highest in the past five and a half years.
"This underscores the importance of mature companies fundraising within a developing venture ecosystem such as Singapore," he said in a statement.
Globally, nine deals over US$500m were sealed in the quarter, including Asia's Mobike and the United States' Outcome Health, both of which recorded a value of US$600m. Europe also saw one of its largest funding rounds ever with Improbable's US$502m Series B raise. Europe also saw one of its largest funding rounds with Improbable's US$502m raised funds.
However, in terms of transaction volume, the number of deals fell for the fifth straight quarter. This ongoing decline has affected the earliest deal stages the most, with angel and seed-stage deal countdown for the ninth straight quarter from a high of 2,674 in 1Q15 to just 1,310 this quarter.
KPMG Venture Capital Practice National Co-Lead Partner Brian Hughes said despite the decline in transaction volume, the venture environment remains healthy and vibrant, with median valuations increasing at all stages of investment on a global level.
"The IPO markets gained strong momentum ending the second quarter which should set up for a strong second half of 2017," he said in a statement.
He furthered, "Venture capital invested has improved significantly this quarter, with large deals in Asia, the Americas and Europe."
For Asia alone, VC investment soared 130 percent, from US$5.4b to US$12.7b this year. This is propelled significantly by two mega rounds, including ridesharing platform Didi Chuxing's US$5.5b funding round and Toutiau's US$1b.
