In 2023 VCs returned the lowest level of capital to their investors since 2011

It’s no secret that the venture capital industry is facing a liquidity crisis as IPOs and other exits remain few and far between after 2020 and 2021’s record-breaking years. Now, we have numbers that show just how bad it’s gotten.

In 2023, the U.S. VC industry invested $60 billion more into startups than it collected back in returns, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing PitchBook data. That is the largest deficit recorded in PitchBook’s 26 years of data. The data also found that U.S. VCs only returned $26 billion worth of shares back to their investors in 2023, the lowest total since 2011.

Despite the void in exits, the past three years have recorded the highest yearly totals of venture funding in the history of the industry.

There are signs that the exit market may begin to open up next year — companies like Klarna and ServiceTitan both have IPOs in the works —  which could help start to cut that deficit down.