VCs Are Turning Off The Tap
The global financial crisis has caused venture capitalists to dramatically reduce their deal making, according to preliminary data gathered by Thomson Reuters. (UPDATE: Full story from PE Week is pasted below.) Read the full story here in PE Week (it's free to everyone today). The data show that U.S.-based venture firms invested in just 250 companies in October, down from 565 companies in September and 518 companies in October 2007. You have to go all the way back to January 2004 (when they invested in 232 companies) to find a lower number. The only other October with fewer deals was in 1993. The amount of capital that VCs are investing also plummeted in October, when U.S.-based firms put $2.5 billion to work, down from $3.8 billion in September and $3.2 billion in October 2007. The October
