Getting venture investment deals done involves relationships between individual companies and venture firms. But global events can still have a big impact, according to a report published Thursday from Fulton, Maryland-based cyber startup foundry DataTribe.

Even before COVID-19, early-stage startup investment activity was already down in the first two months of the year. In February, the analysis found that deal volume is down 44.4% for all startups over the same month of 2019, and 70.2% for cyber deals. The dip started being noticeable at the end of 2019, the report states.

DataTribe Chief Product Officer John Funge points out that many venture deals come about over a three- to six-month cycle, with the checks that are ultimately written come at the end of that period. So even as venture deals dipped, it’s likely that forces were at work even before COVID-19 started having a big impact.

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