Venture capital activity in the semiconductor sector in Q1 2005 was up on the seasonally quiet Q4 2004 but was down more than 40% YTY, according to the Venture Capital Counter by Silicon Strategies. $397.55 mln was invested into semiconductor startups in Q1 2005, up 13.4% from Q4 2004 but down 40.2% from the $664.5 mln recorded in Q1 2004. The Q1 2005 deal count was 34, up from 30 in Q4 2004 but well short of the 44 deals recorded in Q1 2004.