The venture capital landscape has become a "tale of two cities," where AI startups are thriving with red-hot valuations, while non-AI companies struggle to secure funding. This stark contrast is evident in the latest valuation data from Carta, which analyzed nearly 2,000 software deals that closed this year.

According to Carta's findings, the bottom 10% of Series B deals had a pre-money valuation of only $40 million, while the top 10% of companies at the same stage of development were priced at almost $1 billion. The price dispersion was even more dramatic for Series D deals, ranging from a mere $27 million to $5.2 billion. Notably, the companies at the upper end of the range are undoubtedly doing something related to AI, such as ElevenLabs and Cohere, which raised massive funding rounds earlier this year.

Brian Hirsch, co-founder of Tribeca Venture Partners, attributes this disparity to the current market sentiment. "VCs are excited to back AI companies at red-hot valuations, but everything else is really challenged," Hirsch said. He notes that non-AI startups, even those with decent revenue growth, are facing significant challenges in securing Series B funding. This has resulted in a decline in the number of Series A companies able to secure Series B funding within two years, from 25% to just 9%.

Hirsch likens the situation to high school, where founders of non-AI startups feel like they "didn't get invited to the cool party." Despite having good businesses, they are often overlooked by investors. Tribeca Venture Partners is attempting to address this issue with its growth fund, which focuses on pricing down rounds of more mature startups, primarily companies with revenues of $20 million or above. Many of these startups are growing at a decent pace, but their valuations are too high for the current market.

Hirsch believes that the venture capital industry is still in the process of unwinding from the excesses of the previous era. "We're still in that unwinding process," he said. "We think it's at least a couple years more clean-up work." This means that Tribeca Venture Partners' strategy is likely to remain relevant for the foreseeable future, providing a lifeline to struggling startups that are not part of the AI elite.

In conclusion, the venture capital landscape has become increasingly bifurcated, with AI startups enjoying unprecedented valuations while non-AI companies struggle to secure funding. Tribeca Venture Partners' growth fund offers a glimmer of hope for these struggling startups, but the industry as a whole still has a long way to go in terms of unwinding from the excesses of the past.