Is SD’s VC-Investment Slowdown a Trend?

Bacon: “Sectors like genomics, bioinformatics, cybersecurity and robotics are thriving in San Diego, so we should expect the money to follow in the coming years.”

SAN DIEGO—Over the previous couple of years, the San Diego region was getting historically high amounts of venture-capital investment, so Q4 2016’s slowdown may be a single-quarter anomaly or a regression toward the historic average, CBRE EVP Bill Bacon tells GlobeSt.com. The firm reports that total VC investment in San Diego firms was $209 million in Q4 2016, down 35% from Q3 2016 and down 55% from Q4 2015, according to data from the PwC/CB Insights MoneyTree Report and Mattermark. Deal volume was 21, which is considerably lower than the quarterly average of 53 deals. CBRE also reports that for San Diego, this was the lowest quarter for VC investment since Q4 2010, and investment volume was well below the quarterly average (since 2013) of $376 million. VC investment was lower nationwide as well; it was the lowest quarter for total US investment since Q4 2013. We spoke with Bacon about what the pullback means and how this will play out in the future.

GlobeSt.com: What’s behind the slowdown in San Diego’s VC investment for Q4?