The venture sector has long been defined by big wins on disruptive tech companies, balanced by far more numerous losing bets. But in recent months, an unusually large number of venture investments have logged multibillion-dollar profits, setting many firms up for their greatest returns since the dot-com boom of the late 1990s.
“There’s a flight to growth and a flight to innovation,” said Julia Feldman, a managing partner at Silicon Valley Bank who oversees the bank’s arm that invests in venture-capital funds. Prices have become quite high, she said, and she is “cautious about valuations and what that means for future investments.”