Maryland companies raised $251 million in VC funding in the third quarter of 2018

Total venture investment money in Maryland remained relatively stable in the third quarter of 2018, as companies collectively raised $251 million in venture capital.
A total of 21 venture deals were recorded in the state during that time, according to data from the latest MoneyTree report by PwC and CB Insights. That’s relatively even with second quarter funding levels.
This year already has more investment than the last. Factoring in the first quarter’s $411 million, 2018 VC funding is already higher than the entire year of 2017, with $918 million. The 68 deals reported so far is also just five shy of 2017’s total. Now the question is whether Maryland will top the highs of 2015, when investors poured about $971 million into Free State companies (including Tenable’s $250 million deal).
Looking back at the top deals in the third quarter of 2018, Fulton-based open source dev company Sonatype set the pace with its $80 million growth round. Rounding out the top three were a $36 million Series A round for Johns Hopkins biotech spinout Neuraly and the $33 million for Baltimore personal financial planning startup Facet Wealth. In all, Baltimore companies raised about $50 million.
Nationwide, VCs collectively invested $27.5 billion, which “approached quarterly funding records,” according to Tom Ciccolella, PwC’s U.S. Venture Capital Leader. Even so, it’s mostly later-stage rounds that are driving the higher funding levels. Larger rounds are an increasing trend, as 55 companies posted “megarounds” of $100 million or above, according to the report. Seed stage deals, on the other hand, accounted for 18 percent of the deal activity across the country.