Median 2017-Vintage VC Fund Returned 0.37x by Q2 2026

The median 2017-vintage venture fund had distributed 0.37x of paid-in capital to limited partners by the end of the second quarter of 2026, highlighting the gap between cash returned and values recorded on paper.

That measure means investors had received 37 cents for every dollar the fund had drawn from them. Distributed-to-paid-in capital, or DPI, compares cash distributions with paid-in capital. A DPI below 1.0x means a fund has distributed less cash than investors paid in, after fees.

Median DPI was 0.15x for 2018-vintage funds and 0.04x for 2019-vintage funds. The 2017 funds were approaching a decade since inception, but their median cash distributions remained below the amount of paid-in capital.

The strongest funds showed a different picture on paper. The 90th-percentile total value to paid-in capital, or TVPI, for 2017-vintage funds reached 4.14x at the end of Q2, up from 3.31x two years earlier. TVPI includes unrealized holdings that have not been sold or distributed, so it can rise even when cash distributions remain limited.

At the same time, the 90th-percentile net internal rate of return for 2017-vintage funds declined to 25.7% from 28.7% two years earlier. The data therefore showed higher TVPI alongside lower top-end IRR.

Earlier 2026 data covering 2,775 venture funds closed from the start of 2017 through the end of the first quarter represented about $119.3 billion in total capital. Fewer than 20% of 2017- and 2018-vintage funds had reached 1.0x DPI in that data set.

The 90th-percentile DPI threshold was 1.18x for 2017-vintage funds and 1.12x for 2018-vintage funds, putting the top 10% above the point at which distributions exceeded paid-in capital.