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peHUB Wire: Monday, April 20, 2009Q1 VC Numbers: Oh, The Horror
- peHUB Wire: Monday, April 20, 2009
Q1 VC Numbers: Oh, The Horror
- Q1 VC Numbers: Oh, The Horror
As we warned a few days back /37302/q1-venture-capital-investment-tally-is-terrible/ the first quarter was not kind to venture capitalists. Actually, it's more that venture capitalists weren't kind to entrepreneurs. Or perhaps the economy wasn't kind to limited partners, which caused venture capitalists to hoard their (still-considerable) cash. No matter how you pick your posit, the end result is that venture capital investments were shockingly low over the first three months of 2009. Venture capitalists invested just $3 billion into 549 companies last quarter, according to data released this morning by the MoneyTree three (PwC, NVCA & Thomson Reuters). That's a 47% dollar drop from the $5.7 billion disbursed in Q4, and a 61% drop from the $7.74 billion disbursed in Q1 2008. The number of companies funded didn't decrease quite as dramatically -- suggesting that lowered valuations partially helped drive down the dollar numbers -- but still were off 36% and 43.8%, respectively. Every major industry sector experienced double-digit declines, while the percentage of first-time fundings stayed constant at around 20% (although the value of such deals fell by 48%).
- peHUB Wire: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Random Ramblings
- peHUB Wire: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Random Ramblings
- Week in deals, April 13, 2009
Summary of tech companies and other businesses that raised financing in North America in the past week
- VC fund briefs, week of April 13, 2009
Highland Capital seeks 8th fund, Domain wants $700M and CRV goes over $300M
- Highland Capital: Smaller & Smarter
Highland Capital Partners has begun raising its eighth venture fund, with a target of around $400 million. That’s pretty large for a typical VC fund, but small for a firm whose past two vehicles came in at around $800 million (it also raised $300m for a consumer-focused fund). So, what gives? The basic answer seems to be that Highland might be putting common sense above fee-mongering. I know, they might get kicked out of the club (at which point they can just retreat to Wyc’s Lexus Club in the Boston Garden). Here’s what I mean: Both fund-raising and deal-making volumes are deflated right now, due to things like LP liquidity constraints and decreased valuations. So Highland will raise less now and, if the environment improves, go back out for a larger fund sooner than it normally would. If times stay tough, then it’s sized appropriately for a normal investment cycle.
- Highland Capital: Smaller & Smarter
Highland Capital Partners has begun raising its eighth venture fund, with a target of around $400 million. That’s pretty large for a typical VC fund, but small for a firm whose past two vehicles came in at around $800 million (it also raised $300m for a consumer-focused fund). So, what gives? The basic answer seems to be that Highland might be putting common sense above fee-mongering. I know, they might get kicked out of the club (at which point they can just retreat to Wyc’s Lexus Club in the Boston Garden). Here’s what I mean: Both fund-raising and deal-making volumes are deflated right now, due to things like LP liquidity constraints and decreased valuations. So Highland will raise less now and, if the environment improves, go back out for a larger fund sooner than it normally would. If times stay tough, then it’s sized appropriately for a normal investment cycle.