Biotechnology proved a surprisingly bright spot in the 2022 startup correction

No startup sector was entirely immune to market uncertainty in 2022 – with the possible exception of AI – but some have proven more resilient than others. Biotechnology has been one of the lucky ones.

The sector saw 1,054 U.S.-based deals in 2022, worth a collective $30.7 billion, according to data from Pitchbook. These figures are lower than the 1,415 biotechnology agreements concluded in 2021 for a total of $39 billion. But the declines weren’t the worst we’ve seen: biotechnology saw a more modest year-over-year decline in investment volume (21%) than many other sectors, including fintech (37 .7%), consumer technology (53%) and enterprise technology (33%). %).

Comparing any industry’s results to 2021 is a bit specious, as that year was the peak of the last startup boom. Compared to 2020’s 1,143 more conservative biotech deals worth $29.6 billion, last year ended in a tie.

U.S. biotech deals also set new records in 2022 for median deal size, $33.5 million, and median valuation, $38 million.

Biotech investors told TechCrunch that while they definitely felt the pressure of global economic conditions last year — and noticed tourism investors drifting away from the category, like other sectors — many weren’t. no surprise that the category has performed better than some of the other buzzier industries for a few key reasons.