Venture capital’s reckoning

bull run of the past two decades transformed what was once a cottage industry in Silicon Valley into a huge machine for building globally dominant companies. Over $600bn of venture funds were invested worldwide last year, nearly ten times the level a decade ago. Venture capital () spread into new sectors, drew in new participants and became more global. Valuations rocketed as a sense took hold that the good times would never end.Now the war in Ukraine, China’s purging of its tech industry and rising interest rates mean machine is earthbound. Public markets were the first to be hit. The index, which is weighted towards technology companies, has fallen by nearly 30% so far this year in a gruesome reckoning. The amount of capital raised through initial public offerings so far in 2022 is down by about 50% globally and by more than 70% in America compared with the same period last year.