Pittsburgh sees $278M in Q4 VC investment, a record high boosted by healthcare.

Investments in Pittsburgh rose in the last quarter of 2024, driven largely by one big price.

Investments in the region increased almost fivefold in Q4 compared to Q3. Companies from Pittsburgh raised a combined $277.9 million over 14 deals in the last three months of the year, according to the latest Venture Monitor report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). It brought the annual total to $650.1 million in 67 transactions.

The price trend is increasing, but trade is larger in the region, not only from quarter to quarter, but also year after year. So, even though the investments increased slightly from 2023 to 2024, the decrease in the number of transactions shows a trend towards smaller, larger investments.

This could be because “investors are still getting used to the big price estimates of 2021,” said Ven Raju, president and CEO of startup Innovation Works, Technical.ly.

Those estimates in 2021 can be attributed to the ongoing pandemic, which has accelerated the shift to cloud services and spurred a surge in IPO activity. .

The tide has changed in 2025. Investors should focus on restructuring and supporting existing companies, said Raju, the managing director of Pittsburgh-based early stage financing. founder Riverfront Ventures, said.

The amount of investment in the region increased slightly last year, from $ 645.3 million in 2023. Although it is not a large increase, the average transaction increased by over 50 % from $ 6.45 million in 2023, which saw 100 transactions in $ 9.7 million. in 2024, which was only 67 sales in total.

The average transaction increased from $ 3.56 million in Q3 on 16 transactions to $ 19.85 million in Q4 on 14 transactions, with one transaction accounting for 90% of the proceeds in the last three months of the year. AI healthcare startup Abridge raised $250 million in VC funding last October.

“Tailwinds in robotics and AI have prompted investors to make special investments in companies that have the potential to transform,” Raju said.

Health is dominant, especially when mixed with AI

In the first three quarters of 2024, the hospital and health sector generated the most money in the Pittsburgh region, and Q4 was no exception. This is appropriate for a city with a lot of health.

Companies combining those fields with AI and robotics saw the most success. However, small businesses that focus on these areas are not getting much of the pie, according to local business owners.

“In general, the companies that benefited from this increase in capital are growth and older companies,” Raju said. “To the extent that we can strengthen the sources of start-up capital in the region, we have the opportunity to create a stronger pipeline of companies that can continue to secure large and scale investments here. in the region.”

Here are the region’s top five prices, according to PitchBook data:

1. Abridge, a healthcare company in downtown Pittsburgh, raised $250 million in the last round of VC funding in October. The deal increased the value of the company from $2.2 to $2.5 billion.
2. Four Growers, an agtech robotics company in Point Breeze North, raised $9 million in Series A funding in November. The company will use the funds to scale production of its flagship GR-100 harvesting robot and expand its global reach.
3. Rimsys, an information management platform for medical device companies located in the North, raised $5.3 million in AA growth funding in October. The startup is also one of the top five in Q3 for raising $5 million in September.
4. ThoroughCare, a healthcare software company based on the North Shore, raised $5 million in Series A funding in October. The funds will support product development, account management and expansion into new markets, according to a press release.
5. Edge AI, an AI-powered infrastructure maintenance company in Homestead, raised $3 million in seed funding in October. The funds will be used to target projects, expand its technology development and expand the company’s service model, according to a press release.

As always, it’s important to note: These numbers may change after publication, as some deals aren’t recorded until weeks after the quarterly VC reports are published, or PitchBook receives some material. error in his records.

PitchBook announced that two Pittsburgh startups are out, or people who have sold their companies, in the fourth quarter of 2024, but there is no price. This also happened in Q3, with three exits for zero dollars.

Pittsburgh accounts for more than half of PA’s investment

Pittsburgh’s year got off to a good start with $248.9 million up 21 percent in Q1.

Investments then fell sharply in Q2 with $66.2 million rising over 16 percent. Investments continued to be steady in Q3 with $57.1 million raised in the next 16 cases.

Q4 was a strong finish for investments, but the number of transactions remained at a 7-year low.

The investment that is happening, however, is worth more, as shown by the region’s impact on the Commonwealth. Transactions in the Pittsburgh region in Q4 made up 27% of the total of 52 transactions in Pennsylvania, but almost 50% of the total investment. employed in the government.

Investors like Raju are anticipating what this announcement will mean for the growing number and scale of tech companies in the Pittsburgh region.

“The region has all the necessary conditions for a strong and vibrant business community, [including] world-class research institutions, strong attraction of digital and scientific talent, and a great place to start and scale a business,” said Raju.

Pittsburgh is in line with the national trend toward smaller, larger stores

As in Pittsburgh, transactions outside the US continue to increase the total value of transactions on the market, according to the PitchBook report.

The total value of transactions in 2024 reached $ 209 billion on approximately 15,260 values. The increase in foreign trade is the primary driver of trade value in 2024.

The recovery of capital from the lows of 2022 and 2023 is very scary to the best people and AI companies, in particular. For example, $74.6 billion was raised in transactions in the US in Q4, 43% of that value can be attributed to five companies: Databricks, OpenAI, xAI, Waymo and Anthropic – all leaders in development of AI.

However, while business is slowing down in Pittsburgh and across the US, PitchBook’s report shows promising signs for 2025, that the worst of the decline is the business may be behind us.

“Our outlook for 2025 is cautious and optimistic,” said Nizar Tarhuni, vice president of research and marketing intelligence at PitchBook.

A more business-friendly environment in Washington, with additional time for startups and investors to adjust their expectations about pricing, deal structure and growth, could encourage more capital to back to the market, according to Tarhuni.

“That said, fundraising may remain lukewarm,” Tarhuni said, “especially as other pockets of the market seem to be gaining steam, competing for dollars in other investor buckets.” , to end up favoring big businesses and established rulers.”