Analysis
Crunchbase News adds a layer Pulse's own Q3 tally didn't capture: who actually wrote the checks. Pulse's earlier analysis found VC funding outpaced IPO pricing by a lopsided margin last quarter:
- North America Q3 VC total — $92B
- Europe Q3 VC total — $25B
- This week's only IPO pricing — $100M
What's new: Crunchbase's investor-level breakdown shows that gap wasn't driven by a handful of mega-funds sitting out. Most of the most active investors by deal count actually did more deals in Q3 than in Q2, even as total dollars raised declined, which Crunchbase attributes to the absence of new record AI megarounds rather than investors pulling back.
“## Who Actually Wrote The Checks - Insight Partners — led or co-led 18 rounds.”
Who Actually Wrote The Checks
- Insight Partners — led or co-led 18 rounds.
- Andreessen Horowitz — led 16 rounds worth roughly $6.5B, the largest lead-dollar total Crunchbase tracked.
- Sequoia Capital — led 10 rounds.
- Y Combinator — the busiest seed investor by far, with at least 221 known rounds, versus 31 for second-place Antler.
At least 22 investors participated in 10 or more known venture rounds during the quarter.
That split matters for the IPO-backlog story Pulse flagged last week: if deal count held up while total dollars fell, the capital still flowing into companies is arriving in smaller checks spread across more active investors rather than concentrated in megarounds, a different kind of pressure on the IPO window than a simple pullback would suggest, and one worth watching for signs of check-size discipline rather than retreat.