
Private Capital Gravitates to Emerging Life Sciences Markets
Private capital funding has accelerated growth in the life sciences sector over the past decade, Cushman & Wakefield’s Sandy Romero reported. Record flows to the sector helped drive up valuations in preparation for initial public offerings (IPOs), which hit a record in 2020. Although the pace of funding and IPOs slowed down in 2022, capital continued to flow, but at a more moderate level.
Some emerging markets experienced year-over-year growth in funding during 2022, including Denver ($486.6 million, up 6%), Austin ($345 million, up 80%), Minneapolis ($275 million, up 26%) and Atlanta ($86 million, up 2%).
The markets seeing the lion’s share of funding continue to be the largest U.S. life sciences hubs: the San Francisco Bay Area, with $12.6 billion (35% of total U.S. funding), Boston with $8.5 billion (24% funding) and San Diego with $2.5 billion (7% funding).
Among the major life sciences hub markets, venture capital funding grew Y-O-Y in the Bay Area ($12.6 billion, up 32%) and Raleigh-Durham ($628 million, up 36%).
- ◦Financing