The era of easy money could be over for venture capital firms. Although VC fundraising has so far matched last year’s brisk pace, limited partners—the people and institutions that invest in VC funds—say a slowdown is afoot. That’s because this year’s stock sell-off has left big institutions’ portfolios overexposed to venture.
Less appetite from pensions, endowments and wealthy individuals for risky bets in private companies could make it harder for startups to get capital once VC firms exhaust the record amount of money they raised in the last two years.