Fear and loathing in Silicon Valley?

With the number of startup investments hitting a four-year low, the venture capital industry isn’t exactly off to an exciting year.

In the U.S., startups raised $14.8 billion according to the Q1 2016 Venture Pulse Report from CB Insights, an 18.6 percent decrease from the $18.2 million invested in the year ago quater. There were 1,035 deals in Q1; not only was that down over 17 percent year-to-year, its the lowest number of investments made since the first quarter of 2012. 

And, at the current rate, 2016’s figures might actually wind up being lower than 2011.

Things are also rough for workers. There were 250,061 jobs cut through the first four months of 2016, a 24 percent increase from the 201,796 in the first four months of 2015. It is the highest January-April total since 2009, when 695,100 jobs were cut.

At Vator Splash Spring on May 12, we will be holding a series of panels on the state of the current venture capital landscape, how it is evolving and where it is going. 

Just to be clear: we will not be cheerleading for the venture capital industry. We know that things are rough right now, for both startups and investors, and we are going to ask the tough questions. It’s important to know how VCs see the landscape and how their investing criteria and outlook have changed as a result.

Here are some of the things we want to know: how much belt-tightening is really going on? How is this changing the way they look at startups? What are the tough questions they’r asking startups? What do the VCs want to see from companies now to invest their money, and how have those metrics changed since the market began to slide?

Ultimately, what does a down market mean for the companies that want access to that funding, and to the firms that are in charge of giving it out?

Come check out the sessions on May 12 to learn more!

• “Pitching to social impact VCs: Demystifying what it takes to attract their investments, and deliver social and financial returns”

Anthony Heckman (Investor, Kapor Capital), Carolina Huaranca (Entrepreneur in Residence, Kapor Capital) 

• “Surviving an evolving venture biz, and finding deals as an emerging VC fund”

Moderator: Alastair Goldfisher (Editor, Venture Capital Journal and peHUB); Panelists: Eva Ho (Partner, Susa Ventures), Paul Willard (Partner, Subtraction Capital), Zach Ware (Partner, VTF Capital), Matt Oguz (Partner, Palo Alto Venture Science) 

• “With the market slide, what’s the outlook for venture?”

Moderator: Jules Walker (Venture Director, KPMG); Panelists: Tianxiang Zhuo (Karlin Ventures), Jules Maltz (Partner, IVP); Alex Rosen (Partner, IDG Ventures), Erik Rannala (Partner, Mucker Capital)

• “With VC investments slowing down, are Post Seed rounds more prominent?”

Moderator: Ari Levy (Reporter, CNBC); Panelists: James Conlon (Partner, Bullpen Capital), Shruti Gandhi(Managing Partner, Array Ventures), Chad Byers (Partner, Susa Ventures), Jenny Lefcourt(Partner, Freestyle VC), Jim Andelman (Co-founder and Managing Partner, Rincon Venture Partners)

• “VC money is pouring into FinTech: What’s hot and what’s not and how do you get your startup funded?”

Moderator: Jackson Gates (Founder & CEO, Sweep); Panelists: Jay Reinemann (Partner, Propel.VC), Alex Davidov (Partner, Core.VC), Ben Savage (Managing Director, Clocktower Ventures), Todd Kimmel (Managing Partner, Montage Ventures)

Hope to see you there!