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There’s a new trend sweeping Silicon Valley: Startups raising “down rounds” of funding at valuations lower than they set in previous rounds.
Research firm CB Insights has crunched the numbers on all the companies that are raising down rounds; you can view the info at this link. To quickly rehash, a company raises a down round when investors think the company is worth less than it was before.
If you’re a VC and you don’t know if a portfolio company of yours is on there, just grab a brown paper bag before you click in case you get dizzy.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, the largest company on the list, is rumored to be raising a down round. Some other recent notables include companies that were once worth several billion dollars, like struggling Jawbone and the life-support-sustained Gilt Groupe.
Jawbone cut its valuation by $1.5 billion in a $165 million down round that it mostly raised from the Kuwait Investment Authority in January. Foursquare also raised a down round at a valuation of $250 million, way below its peak of $650 million from 2013. Flash sales pioneer Gilt Groupe didn’t raise cash but was snapped up for $250 million by the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue. Gilt was once valued at more than a billion dollars.
The down-round phenomenon is not particular to private funding markets like the VC world; in November, commerce startup Square went public at a share price that set its valuation much lower than it had previously reached in previous funding rounds.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
