In 2016, venture capital activity decreased, but valuations continued to escalate, according to a new report published by Pitchbook.The number of deals fell by nearly 20% in 2016 (versus 2015), but aggregate deal values fell by about only 10%, suggesting valuations continued to creep higher. Valuations were buoyed to a large extent by gains in the public markets, where the S&P 500 gained 12% in 2016.It’s too early to tell if valuations are necessarily topping. Series D+ valuations stopped growing in year-over-year terms for the first time since 2009, but earlier stage funding rounds (A and C) continued to see progress.But without much of a dataset of recent exits, it’s difficult to know exactly how the venture market is priced relative to what the open market dictates. Snap debuted recently at a valuation of around $25 billion. Okta and Yext, valued at $1.2 billion and $560 million, respectively, recently filed for IPO’s. Median seed valuations increased to $8 million by 2016, a rise of 87% over 2010 figures. Pharma and biotech are inherently the most volatile sectors.In terms of general trends by stage, A and C rounds expanded, while B and D stagnated.Whether there’s anything to glean out of this is uncertain. The rise in Series A funding indicates that there are plenty of early-stage firms looking for capital. The stagnation in Series D+ funding, the first since 2009, may indicate that some believe that valuations are becoming stretched. Series D or later is typically the point at which mutual funds and hedge funds will invest if they participate in private investments. VC firms nonetheless have the largest amounts of capital waiting to be deployed than at any point in the industry’s history.The largest Series D+ valuations from 2016 include Uber, Palantir Technologies, Snap, WeWork, and Stripe.