Funding in startups has reached record levels in 2021. In Q3 alone, about $160 billion was invested globally. That’s a 78% increase year over year. Before 2021, global funding had never crossed $100 billion in a single quarter.
How companies are generating finance is also fast-changing. There are a lot of new mechanisms that connect companies to investors, from platforms like MicroAcquire to crowdfunding, ICOs and SPACs. The DeFi movement, which takes place through decentralised peer-to-peer networks, also drives many of these new methods.
There is so much cash around. By levelling access to funding, what used to be exclusive to a few elite groups of people—top-tier VCs, founders from branded schools, among others—are now available to the hands of many. As a result, more minds of different backgrounds will build new innovative products and services.