Monday, March 30, 2009

UNH: 2008 angel investment dollars down 26 percent

By Mass High Tech staff

The Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire has found that angel investments dropped in 2008, with lower amounts of individual funding, despite a nearly equal number of investments last year over 2007.

The findings, part of the 2008 Angel Market Analysis, marked 2008 angel investments of $19.2 billion, 26.2 percent less than 2007 investments of $26 billion. Despite the sharp decrease in funding amounts, the number of ventures receiving funding decreased by just 2.9 percent, with 55,480 entrepreneurs funded in 2008 over 57,120 ventures in 2007.

The market analysis supports the claim by Jeffrey Sohl, director of the UNH Center for Venture Research, that angel investing stems from an individual’s net worth and decision to invest, whereas a venture capital firm must invest for the full funding term.

The majority of angel investments, about 16 percent, supported health care services and medical devices, followed by software (13 percent), retail (12 percent), biotech (11 percent), industrial/energy (8 percent) and media (7 percent).

UNH’s report also found that 2008 angel investments in seed and startup companies made up 45 percent of their funding, an increase of six percent since 2007.