Venture capitalists (VC) and startup founders will remember 2023 as the year the party ended. After years of record investments and outsized returns fueled by ultralow interest rates, 3,200 U.S. private venture-backed companies — mostly tech startups — went out of business last year. Collectively, the companies had raised $27.2 billion in venture funding. If history is any indicator, the collapse is just beginning. READ MORE