Venture Capital’s New Normal: Outsized Checks and Unsolicited Offers

Last year, Papaya Global, a financial services business based in New York City and Tel Aviv, pitched investors on its hopes of raising $15 million to expand the business, according to a person familiar with the situation. But after talks with venture capital firm Insight Partners, Papaya ended up raising a $45 million Series A round from a group that also included Bessemer Venture Partners, New Era Ventures and Dynamic Loop Capital. 

It’s the new normal in VC. So much money is sloshing around the system that not only are companies often raising far more than they expected, they’re getting unsolicited offers of funding—when they’re not even looking to raise money.