Another Sign That VCs Are Getting More Active
We won’t officially know until early Q1 whether VC investment levels returned to normal in Q4, but I have yet another piece of anecdotal evidence that the market is improving. For the second month in a row, I’ve been surprised by the number of deals on Venture Capital Journal’s list of the Top 10 Most Active VCs. For most of this year, the top deal maker on the list has done about seven or eight deals per month. That changed in October, with New Enterprise Associates going into warp drive and closing 12 deals, up from eight the prior month. For November, I found that not only did NEA do another dozen deals, but it wasn’t even at the top of the list. Intel Capital came in at No. 1 for November with 16 deals, up from just three deals the prior month. I’m not ready to say “Venture Is Back, Baby,” like Jon Callaghan, but these data points at least give us reason to hope.
