Techcrunch has published an analysis of VC funding in 2009.   4th quarter results look promising, with funding up 78% from the third quarter.   We can hope that this trend will continue into 2010 and signals the return of venture capital investing.  It is interesting to note that evne with the large amounts invested in Q4 09, the 2009 totals were still significantly lower than 2008.  (2009, $32.6B : 2008 $38B).  Their data shows the investing slump really starting in Q3 2008, so hopefully the 5 quarter period is over. I noticed, and a commenter on TechCrunch did the math, that the number of deals is relatively low, with an average investment of $13M.   Sure, there may be some small A rounds in there, but it indicates that a lot of the money is going in later rounds, in big dollar amounts.  Good to support the industry and create jobs, but potentially tougher for true start-ups. The good news for Clean Tech is that several of the bigger deals are clean. Some of the big funding rounds of the quarter included Zynga’s $180 million, Playdom’s $43 million, and RockYou’s $50 million. But clean tech cleaned up even more, with Horizon Wind Energy bringing in $318 million in financing, Silver Spring Networks adding $105 million to its coffers, and Sun Run Generation raising $90 million. All in all, promising signs, but we’ll have to see what the next few quarters bring before making any judgments on the health of the VC community. http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/03/venture-funding-fourth-quarter-2009-15-billion/

Share this on Reddit

Share this on Facebook

Tweet This!

Share this on del.icio.us

Digg this!

Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon

Share this on Technorati

Share this on Linkedin

Share this on FriendFeed

Related posts:Venture capital fund raising drops 71 percent in Q4 VC’s down on current state of the industry. Where are the Hot Spots for venture capital? Tim Draper