Biz Talk: Arlington venture capital roundup Q1 2022

This article was written by Adam Henry, CEcD, Senior Business Development Manager for Arlington Economic Development.

This month Arlington Economic Development is celebrating innovation month — a time to celebrate all the innovative companies that call Arlington home.

Coming off a record-breaking year for venture capital investment in the United States, the first quarter of 2022 showed a lot of promise for Arlington-based companies seeking capital to launch and grow their innovative products and services. In total, Arlington-based companies saw five venture capital raises totaling $129.2 million in funding. Notable raises from this quarter include:

• Arlington-based Federated Wireless, a provider of shared spectrum and CBRS technology, raised $58 million in Series D funding to help scale the company’s platform and support further investments in its capabilities and partnerships
• Shift5, an operational technology cybersecurity company, raised $50 million in Series B funding to protect against increasing cyber-physical threats targeting planes, trains, and weapon systems
• Bear Analytics, a technology company that provides an insights-as-a-service (IaaS) solution for event tech providers, event organizers and brands, raised an undisclosed amount from Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation
• And Arlington-based Delorean Power, a utility-scale energy storage development company, raised $20 million in funding from Greenbacker Capital to further scale its platform while continuing to execute and expand on its existing pipeline of energy storage projects

Since 2020, Arlington-based companies have raised $829.6 million in venture funding across 54 deals. Funding for local companies remained robust for the last three quarters, as over $125 million was raised in Q3 2021, Q4 2021 and Q1 2022, respectively.

Looking at the North American landscape of venture capital, startup investments declined by 11 percent in the first quarter of 2022, the first decline in nearly two years according to Crunchbase. The most notable decrease comes from early-stage investments (Series A and B).

According to Crunchbase, “Investors put a total of $26.3 billion into early-stage startups in North America in Q1, down 22 percent from the prior quarter.” According to the National Venture Capital Association’s Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor for Q1 2022, Metro DC logged 94 venture deals totaling $1.78 billion this past quarter, up slightly from 95 deals with a total value of $1.1 billion in Q4 2021. Nationally, NVCA estimates that the United States saw 4,822 deals totaling $70.7 billion in Q1 2022.

As the innovation ecosystem continues to grow in Arlington, access to venture capital will remain a critical component to further establishing the community as a nationally recognized hub for innovation in the United States.