As the world braces for an economic downturn, America's largest VC firms are amassing unprecedented sums to invest in startups.

Lightspeed raised $7.1 billion across four funds this week, underscoring a trend that began in the early weeks of 2022 and has yet to abate.
   
US VC firms raised $121.5 billion in the first six months of 2022, 87% of the record $138.9 billion committed in 2021, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. Of this year's total, $77 billion was committed to funds worth $1 billion or more—far and away the largest annual total raised by these mega-funds.

At the same time, US VC investors have become pickier with deals and stingier with dollars, which caused dealmaking to fall to $62 billion in Q2, the lowest deal value recorded since Q4 2020.

In announcing the funds, Lightspeed unveiled Lightspeed Faction, a team dedicated to blockchain investments. Faction is led by Samuel Harrison, former managing partner of Blockchain Ventures, and Banafsheh Fathieh, the former head of investments at Prosus Ventures.

Other well-established VC firms have made similar efforts to stake out dedicated vehicles and teams in the crypto space. In February, Sequoia allocated up to $600 million to invest in liquid tokens and digital assets.

Of the $7.1 billion in capital commitments, Lightspeed earmarked $1.98 billion for its flagship early-stage fund, $2.26 billion for a growth fund to back existing portfolio companies and $2.36 billion for an "opportunity fund" to back startups from around the world. It also dedicated $500 million to its fourth India-focused fund.

Featured image via GarryKillian/Getty Images

This article originally appeared on PitchBook News