Category: Venture capital

US venture capital investments sank 61% in Q1 2009, dropping to the lowest level in 12 years. VC investments totaled $3 bln in Q1 2009, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters. In Q1 2008, investments totaled $7.74 bln. This is the lowest quarterly level of venture investments since Q1 1997, when they totaled $2.96 bln.

US VC investments in the US totaled $5.4 bln during Q4 2008, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters. This compares to the $8.1 bln invested in Q4 2007 and is the lowest quarterly level of venture investments since Q1 2005. Fourth-quarter investments went to 818 companies, down from 1,051 in Q4 2007. Investments in software companies dropped to their lowest level in 10 years, as $1 bln was sunk into 194 companies. In Q4 2007, 245 software companies received $1.4 bln in investments.

IT Venture capital dropped to $11.64 bln for all of 2008, down 14.5% from 2007, according to VentureSource. Software companies, which continue to capture the largest slice of IT venture investments, dropped 16.4% during the year, to $4.73 bln in funding.

Less than 20% of VC portfolio poised for exit in 2009 as IPO market recovery not seen for at least a year; M&A activity seen increasing as valuations drop. In polling 270 venture capitalists, corporate buyers and entrepreneurs, KPMG found that 73% of respondents expect their firm’s revenue to stay the same or increase in 2009. In fact, 52% expect revenue growth to increase, including 37% who predict revenue growth in excess of 10%. Only 26% see declining revenues in the year ahead. KPMG conducted the survey in collaboration with AlwaysOn, the venture capital new media organization. Venture capitalists expect the negative IPO trend to continue in 2009, with 88% of respondents expecting IPO activity to stay the same or to decline further. Additionally, 82% of venture capitalists surveyed indicated that they do not anticipate recovery in the IPO market for at least 12 months. The outlook on IPO activity has clearly impacted venture capital exit opportunities, and 80% of respondents said less than 20% of their portfolio is poised for exit in 2009.

The pace of US venture capital investments remained steady at $7.4 bln during Q2 2008 despite a wobbly stock market that has made it increasingly difficult for the financiers of new ideas to cash out of startups. The amount of money spread across 990 deals in Q2 2008 was unchanged from the same time 2007, according to National Venture Capital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thomson Reuters.

US VC investments dropped by 5% to $7.1 bln during Q1 2008. This was the first YTY decline in the venture capital industry’s quarterly investments since the end of 2005, National Venture Capital Association says. In Q1 2007 VCs invested $7.5 bln. More deals got done in in Q1 2008 than Q1 2007 – a total of 922 compared with 861 in 2007.

Venture capitalists invested $928 mln in Indian companies in 2007, a significant 166% jump compared to 2006 level, VentureBeat reports.

US venture capitalists invested a total of $29.4 bln in 2007, up 10.8% from 2006. The number of deals reached 3,813 in 2007, a modest rise of 5% over 2006, PriceWaterhouseCoopers reports.

Venture capitalists raised $34.7 bln in funds in 2007, an increase of 9.4% and the most the industry has raised since 2001, when it raised $38.8 bln, Thomson Financial and the NVCA (National Venture Capital Association) reported.

38 venture-backed companies completed IPOs in Europe. They raised 893 mln euros, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. The growth is down from 89 companies and 1.7 bln euros in 2006. The median amount raised via IPO was 15.8 mln Euros, the highest in 6 years.