Maryland companies raised $79 million in venture capital funding during the first quarter, the lowest total for a three-month period in more than two years, according to a PwC/CB Insights MoneyTree Report released Tuesday.
The quarterly funding, raised through 18 separate deals, is a sharp decline from the $406 million raised in the state during the first quarter of 2018. Gaithersburg startup Viela Bio closed a $250 million early-stage funding round in that period. It's a noticeably slow start to 2019, as Maryland is coming off its strongest VC year ever. State-based companies raised $1.1 billion last year.