Venture capital fundraising ended 2021 with the biggest numbers ever registered, based on data from a recent report published by industry veterans, at a time when companies across the country emerge out of the pandemic but face an Omicron-tainted recovery. The best year for Venture Capital (VC) funding saw U.S. companies raise nearly $330 billion, which is almost twice that of $166.6 billion in 2020. “Investment activity (measured in both total dollars invested and total deal count) for seed & angel, early-, and late-stage companies all hit records,” said the Venture Monitor report by data research company Pitchbook, National Venture Capital Association, and human resources firm Insperity. “Total deal count also increased substantially to an estimated 17,054 deals in 2021 (up from 12,173 in 2020), but the increase in deal count did not match the pace of the surge in additional capital, continuing the trend of increasing deal sizes.” Altogether, …