TechPoint’s annual analysis of the state’s annual venture capital (VC) landscape shows Indiana made slight gains in a slow economy and is poised to take advantage of an expected upturn in 2024. Chelsea Linder, TechPoint’s Vice President for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, points out that in March, world economists feared the collapse of the California’s Silicon Valley Bank would devastate the venture market. A swift rescue reduced that impact but couldn’t prevent a slowdown as investors took a much more conservative approach to dealmaking. “We’re heartened by indications that interest rate cuts are coming in 2024 and we know there’s a lot of dry powder out there,” she said. “We expect a return to growth this year.” 

Despite the overall sluggish national economy, Indiana’s 2023 share of VC deal count increased by 0.1 percent compared to 2022. Though slight, that performance put Indiana in the top 10 states with increased deal count compared to the prior year, with the top performance coming from Texas at just 0.5 percent. When it came to deal value, California led the nation with percentage increase of more than 6 percent compared to Indiana’s 0.1 percent increase and Texas’ decrease of 0.6 percent.  

Tech-specific venture investments in Indiana totaled about $278 million in deal value through 115 deals – a 20 percent increase in the number of deals but a 40 percent decline in total VC invested. Healthtech companies led this activity, with 35 deals worth nearly $74 million followed by ag tech companies attracting 11 deals worth $38 million and hardtech’s 11 deal worth $38 million. Most VC activity was in central Indiana, but every region in the state had a deal. Nineteen Indiana tech companies successfully exited through merger and acquisition. 

See the full report, analysis and rundown of the biggest deals that occurred in 2023.