decentralized finance defi and web3 were the primary targets of earlystage startup funding from some of the top private investors in the third quarter research firm pitchbook said on tuesday even as overall venture capital investments declinedweb3 a term used to describe a potential next phase of the internet firms that were focused on decentralized software projects as well as blockchainbased products and services drew the most capital with 879 million invested across 24 deals during the quarter pitchbooks emerging tech indicator report showedoutlook for funding in the current quarter has darkened as cryptocurrencies reel from the impact of the stunning collapse of ftx earlier this monthstill we note there are areas of the cryptocurrency ecosystem that are less exposed to trading activity which could be less impacted by the fallout from ftx pitchbook analysts saidsome of the largest deals in the sector were captured by funding such as 300 million series b for mysten labs and a 200 million series a for aptos labs two new blockchain networks that may compete with established players like ethereum and solana analysts notedoverall venture capital vc activity softened for the third consecutive quarter totaling 47 billion across 153 deals a 32 decline from second quarters 69 billion across 244 deals pitchbook saidother hot sectors for vc investments included financial technology accounting for 7374 million across 24 deals during the quarter and biotechnology that lured in 7258 million across 11 deals pitchbook saidpitchbooks emerging tech indicator report tracked 153 early and seedstage deals that involved the top 15 vc firms out of 5997 total deals in the third quarter of 2022