Startups born in times of economic distress must learn to manage their capital efficiently and pivot quickly when plans don’t work. Of course, startups created in more ebullient times must also embrace these lessons when times get tough. But it can be a heavier lift when a young company has already settled into high burn rates and ambitious growth plans.

The economic uncertainty that has emerged from the coronavirus pandemic is throwing some fairly big obstacles in the face of those startups in their earliest stages of existence, as Marc Vartabedian reports. Founders seeking seed and early-stage funding to get their companies off the ground face much higher hurdles these days, as more venture capital flows to later-stage rounds of more established, and presumably less risky, startups.

At the same time, the pandemic promises to speed the pace of technological transformation in certain industries that might have been slower to adapt. As Laura Cooper writes, supply-chain technology is one sector that stands to attract more investor dollars as social distancing and lockdowns have disrupted the movement of goods at a time of critical need.

Read on for more stories in this technology-themed report...

Breaking into Silicon Valley has become an even taller order for first-time entrepreneurs during the coronavirus pandemic, Marc Vartabedian writes for WSJ Pro.

Seed financing—the earliest stage of startup investing and the start of many technology success stories—has borne the brunt of the pandemic’s hit on the venture-capital sector, data shows. While established startups and entrepreneurs have been able to tap investors to keep businesses afloat or start new ventures during the financial upheaval, newcomers say the bar has been raised for startups trying to get their dreams off the ground.

The coronavirus pandemic stymied private-equity deal activity across almost every sector, particularly hospitality and restaurants, but investors predict that supply-chain technology will see its fortunes rise, Laura Cooper writes.

“The market itself was attractive to private-equity and growth equity investors prepandemic, but now it’s even more so,” said Dave Dolan, a managing director focused on transportation, logistics and supply-chain technology at investment bank DC Advisory. “It’s a space they know well and it’s addressing a large total adjustable market size. If you’re going to [invest] capital in this environment, this checks a lot of boxes.”

Private-equity and venture investors, particularly those focused on technology deals, have long embraced technological innovation in both their professional and personal lives. In many ways, the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the importance of technology in our daily lives. We reached out to a number of deal makers to find out what technologies (other than those focused on remote videoconferencing) they have found most useful during the pandemic.

Over the past decade, investment advisers have embraced data technology to help their clients better manage and monitor their private-markets portfolios. Now, the coronavirus pandemic and the market volatility that has come in its wake are putting those platforms to the test and leading to further refinements, writes Preeti Singh.

Investment advisers that include Aksia LLC, StepStone Group, Cliffwater Inc. and Hamilton Lane ramped up their investments in technology following the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 to better analyze the thousands of data points they regularly received from general partners. Advisers and their clients have turned to these dashboards as they seek to understand the ways in which the pandemic and economic volatility it caused could affect their portfolios.

Insight Partners has seen its share of market downturns since the software-focused firm was formed in 1995, Isaac Taylor writes. So when the coronavirus pandemic started to spread, the New York firm moved quickly and aggressively to position its portfolio, a lesson it had learned in past crises.

“Over 25 years, we’ve been through multiple downturns,” said Managing Director Hilary Gosher. “We haven’t been through one that looks like this, but we’ve got a lot of playbooks and information on how to adapt.”

Technology ventures that are developing software for videoconferencing, collaboration and e-commerce tools are becoming hot acquisition targets for large companies and investors during the pandemic, WSJ Pro's Angus Loten writes.

Lifesize Inc., a videoconferencing software company based in Austin, Texas, in August announced a deal to purchase collaboration-tool maker Kaptivo, citing a growing demand for remote-work apps. Lifesize itself was acquired by Marlin Equity Partners in March. The terms of the deals weren’t disclosed.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Tomio Geron, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

Follow us on Twitter: @wsjvc, @tomiogeron, @ychernova, @BrianPGormley, @marcvarta.