The fact that the time horizon is spread over 3-4 years makes the analysis misleading.
Case in point, Bitcoin was a nonfactor in 2012 (hence the high "growth"), but VC for Bitcoin firms has dried up in 2015, with most Bitcoin startups either dying or pivoting to more generic financial instruments/blockchain tech.
Hey, I'm the author. Actually, the data doesn't support this statement. Here's financing by year for BTC companies in $M (non inflation adj). Note 2015 is only through June, so BTC investment should grow 45% y/y, if the pace holds.
year industry amount($M)
2012 Bitcoin 4.75000
2013 Bitcoin 54.47459
2014 Bitcoin 259.57000
2015 Bitcoin 189.40000
I'd be interested where you're getting your numbers - there was a popular article floating aroudn a couple of days ago about VC capital invested into Bitcoin already passing the 2014 total: http://cointelegraph.com/news/114862/bitcoin-capital-investm...
189m seems low considering 21, inc. alone raised over $110m.
You should reclassify this as Blockchain, and separate the application on currency (Bitcoin). The bigger fundraising events this year has been around the "Blockchain" technology while investors' appetite to startups focusing on Bitcoin as a currency has dwindled significantly.
And I'm curious why a longer time horizon makes the data misleading. I calculated over 3 years to minimize the risk of aberrations/flashes in the pan. What time period would you suggest?
> I calculated over 3 years to minimize the risk of aberrations/flashes in the pan
That's the issue. VC funding patterns are so long-tail and erratic that consolidating them misses that variation. It could be one startup accounting for the bulk of a funding, but we can't say the industry as a whole has grown.
Although with the BTC numbers you cite, that might not be relevant. Hmm.
Case in point, Bitcoin was a nonfactor in 2012 (hence the high "growth"), but VC for Bitcoin firms has dried up in 2015, with most Bitcoin startups either dying or pivoting to more generic financial instruments/blockchain tech.