2009 VC Investment Data: Silver Linings In A Dark Cloud
Venture capitalists invested $17.7 billion into 2,795 deals for U.S.-based companies in 2009, according to data released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB). That's a 37% dollar decrease and 30% deal decrease from 2008, and represents the lowest volumes since 1997. It actually gets a bit worse. All but one industry sector experienced double-digit dollar declines (including some particularly sluggish stats for cleantech). And the one exception -- chips and networking -- still dropped by five percent. So why my headline optimism? Three reasons: 1. Low investment totals might concern entrepreneurs and fee-driven investors, but they don't correlate to low investment returns. Far more venture capital was invested in 2001 or 2003 than in 1997, but which year's median returns would you prefer?
