In the fourth quarter of 2013, start-up companies raised an aggregate of $1.18 billion, more than double Q3’s $559.4 million. That total is the highest we’ve seen since START-UP began featuring this column exactly five years ago; 89% ($1.04 billion) was attributed to biopharma fundraising, half of which was from Series A rounds. (Q4 2011’s $692.9 million was the second-highest total in the biopharmaceutical sector.) Medical device firms generated $11 million more than last quarter with $54 million, while four in vitro diagnostic start-ups raised a combined $81 million. (See Exhibit 1.)
Exhibit 1