Early-stage VC valuations see their first decline in 10 quarters

Early-stage VC valuations saw a sharp decline in the second quarter, and unicorn public exits nearly went extinct in the first half of 2022. Yet while valuations may be decreasing in the early-stage category, deal values are increasing. Late-stage valuations show the reverse—deal values have declined slightly but valuations have increased. Haus, the Sonoma-based buzzy liquor brand, announced in a series of tweets that the company lost its Series A funding. The top-quartile public listing during this year closed at a $338.3 million valuation, which is 72.2% lower than high of $1.2 billion. Unicorns, on the other hand, stumbled hard in 2022. There is a shortage of liquidity for IPOs, according to the PitchBook . . .