2014's 10 Biggest VC Deals Were Worth Nearly $50 Billion

In 2014, venture capital funding in the United States hit its highest mark since 2001. Even though deal growth was a modest 8 percent higher than in 2013, investment skyrocketed 62 percent. $47.3 billion was invested in 3,617 deals with the tech sector accounting for three out of every four of them.

Unsurprisingly, Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp was the largest venture-backed exit last year, valued at a whopping $22 billion. Lending Club's December IPO came second, valued at $5.4 billion while Zayo Group Holdings came in third with a $4.4 billion exit. The top 10 venture capital backed exits in 2014 brought in nearly $50 billion.