The biggest drop in VC funding occurred in early-stage funding, which declined 34% year-over-year to $7.6 billion, while seed funding fell by more than 15% to $2.5 billion. In contrast, late-stage funding grew by around 7% to $9.2 billion, the report said.

Funding to U.S. companies in November totaled nearly $9 billion, a little less than 50% of total funding. Sectors that raised the most in November include healthcare and financial services with more than $3 billion invested in each of those sectors.

Artificial intelligence remained very popular, with AI companies collecting $2.4 billion last month. The biggest rounds last month belonged to Aleph Alpha, a German startup, which raised $500 million from investors including Bosch Ventures, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and SAP. Together AI also collected $102.5 million in a round led by Kleiner Perkins.

Brian Smiga, a cofounding partner of Alpha Partners, said the first six months of 2023 was a desert for rounds led by top-tier VCs. This slowly increased during the second half of the year Smiga said. (New York-based Alpha Partners focuses on mid-mid-stage investing and expansion rounds alongside earlier investors.) Compared to last year, the number of VC deals rose in 2023, while the quality of transactions increased dramatically, Smiga said. “Deals are taking much longer to close, which favors investors,” he said.

Smiga expects 2024 to continue the trend of companies raising rounds at lower valuation. “2024 is a down round year,” he said. “It’s a great environment for companies with a sustainable moat and economics, but bad for everyone else.”

Talk to you tomorrow,

Luisa Beltran
Twitter: @LuisaRBeltran
Email: luisa.beltran@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Tome Biosciences, a Watertown, Mass.-based genomic integration company, raised $213 million in funding from a16z, ARCH Venture Partners, GV Management Company, Longwood Fund, and others. 

- Bicara Therapeutics, a Boston, Mass.-based biotech company developing treatments for solid tumors, raised $165 million in Series C funding. Braidwell and TPG led the round and were joined by Deerfield Management, Fairmount, and others. 

- True Anomaly, a Centennial, Colo.-based developer of space security, sustainability, and accessibility technology, raised $100 million in Series B funding. Riot Ventures led the round and was joined by Eclipse, ACME Capital, Menlo Ventures, and others. 

- Stayntouch, an Aalsmeer, Netherlands-based provider of hotel property management systems, raised $48 million in funding from Sixth Street Growth. 

- Freya Biosciences, a Copenhagen, Denmark and Boston, Mass.-based biotech company focused on womens’ reproductive health, raised $38 million in Series A funding. Sofinnova Partners and OMX Ventures led the round and were joined by The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Angelini Ventures, and others. 

- Guardz, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of cybersecurity for small businesses, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Glilot+ led the round and was joined by Hanaco Ventures, iAngels, and others. 

- Allstar.gg, a New York City-based platform that automatically creates shareable gaming videos from longform gameplay, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Drive Capital led the round and was joined by Mark Cuban, Studio VC, J-Ventures, and others. 

- Chalk, a San Francisco-based data platform for machine learning, raised $10 million in seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Unusual Ventures, Xfund, and angel investors. 

- Encellin, a San Francisco, Calif.-based biotech company developing treatments for Type 1 Diabetes, raised $9.9 million in funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by Y Combinator. 

- Spore.Bio, a Paris, France-based developer of AI-powered technology that can detect bacteria in consumer products, raised €8 million ($8.6 million) in pre-seed funding. LocalGlobe led the round and was joined by EmergingTech Ventures, No Label Ventures, and others. 

- Featureform, a San Francisco, Calif.-based MLOps feature store for building AI and ML systems, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. GreatPoint Ventures and Zetta Venture Partners led the round and were joined by Tuesday Capital and Alumni Ventures. 

- Magma, an Austin, Texas-based collaborative art creation and project management platform, raised $5 million in seed funding. GFR Fund led the round and was joined by 4founders, Supernode Global, and others. 

- Comun, a New York City-based banking app designed for Latino families, raised $4.5 million in funding. Costanoa Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Animo Ventures, South Park Commons, and others.

- Certainly Health, a New York City-based healthcare marketplace for booking medical and cosmetic care with upfront prices, raised $2.3 million in funding from Pacific 8 Ventures, Y-Combinator, and others. 

PRIVATE EQUITY

- beqom, backed by Sumeru Equity Partners, agreed to acquire PayAnalytics, a Reykjavík, Iceland-based pay and workplace equity software provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Epassi Group, backed by TA Associates and Warburg Pincus, acquired Exercite, a Helsinki, Finland-based provider of corporate health and wellness benefit solutions, from Waterland Private Equity. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Harvest Partners acquired Road Safety Services, an Omaha, Neb.-based provider of a diverse set of pavement marking and other road safety-related services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Lynx Software Technologies, a portfolio company of OceanSound Partners, acquired Timesys Corporation, a Pittsburgh, Penn.-based provider of open-source software security solutions, development tools, and engineering services and consulting. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Ncontracts, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, acquired Quantivate, a Bothell, Wash.-based provider of governance, risk, and compliance solutions for banks and credit unions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Nintex, backed by TPG Capital, agreed to acquire Skuid, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based low-code platform for developing apps. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- NOVA Infrastructure acquired A&R Bulk-Pak, a Moncks Corner, S.C.-based provider of contract packaging, transloading, warehousing, and other critical supply chain services for the petrochemical industry. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Rithum, backed by GTCR, acquired Cadeera, a London, U.K.-based AI-powered search platform for products. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- TAS Environmental Services, a portfolio company of Blue Point Capital Partners, acquired Environmental Concepts & Services, a Springfield, Tenn.-based provider of waste transportation, non-hazardous waste treatment and disposal and other industrial services. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

OTHER

- Aditxt acquired Evofem Biosciences, a San Diego, Calif.-based developer of hormone-free birth control gel, for $100 million. 

- Perion acquired Hivestack, a Montréal, Québec-based advertising technology company, for $100 million.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

- BoxGroup, a New York City and San Francisco-based venture capital fund, raised $425 million across two funds. 

PEOPLE

- Ardian France, a Paris, France-based private equity firm, promoted Mathias Burghardt to chief executive officer. 

- Cathay Capital, a Paris, France-based private equity firm, hired Caroline Folleas as a partner. Formerly, she was with Merieux Equity Partners. 

- CD&R, a New York City-based private equity firm, promoted Sid Jhaver, Jon Selib, and Bill Berutti to partners. 

- LongRange Capital, a Stamford, Conn.-based private equity firm, promoted Sunny Patel and Mike Houy to managing directors. 

- Sixth Street, a San Francisco, Calif.-based private equity firm, hired Russell Wolff as a senior member of the Sports, Media, and Entertainment team. Formerly, he was with ESPN+.