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MHT's Jackie Noblett: Lessons from the 2007 IPOs
MHT's Jackie Noblett: VC funds run short in 2009
U.S. venture financings in the first quarter of 2010 were up a modest 12 percent over their disastrous nadir in the same period last year, Dow Jones VentureSource reported in their quarterly release on Saturday – but VC dollars into New England companies dropped by 23.8 percent.
Venture investors put $4.7 billion to work in 597 deals with U.S. companies in Q1 2010, according to the industry tracker. For New England companies, deal flow was up – but the average dollars invested per deal fell steeply. VC’s backed 80 New England companies with $508.6 million in total in Q1 2010. In the same period last year, they invested $667.4 million they invested over 59 deals in the year-ago period.
VentureSource Global Research Director Jessica Canning said the increase shows the venture industry is moving toward a “slow recovery.”
Information technology claimed 32 percent of the deals, raising $1.5 billion over 192 deals. That number continues a five-year decline in IT’s share of venture deals and dollars, which Canning attributed to a shift in VC’s focus toward services-based business models.
Healthcare companies saw a dropoff, raising $1.2 billion for 141 deals. In the year-ago period, healthcare companies raised $1.5 billion over 130 deals with venture investors. Within the healthcare sector, there were 59 biopharmaceuticals deals for $619 million, which was down 20 percent from last year. In medical devices, 62 deals raised $439 million, a 23 percent drop in investment value, despite an increase in deals from 47 in the first quarter of last year.
Energy and utilities, which includes most cleantech companies, raised $351 million in 27 deals, a jump of 69 percent over the year-ago period. Business and financial services industry companies raised $808 million over 99 deals, a one-third increase over Q1 2009.
In New England, IT companies gained over the year-ago period, raising $147.4 million over 30 deals - compared to Q1 2009’s $127.5 million over 23 deals. Healthcare companies raised less than they had in the first quarter of last year, posting $239.1 million over 24 deals. New England healthcare companies raised $365.0 million over the same number of deals in the year-ago period.
As usual, the Dow Jones numbers diverged from other industry trackers. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters recorded $4.7 billion over 681 U.S. companies in the quarter in a report published Friday. Newcomer CB Insights posted the most optimistic numbers of all - $5.9 billion over 731 deals with U.S. companies. In the past, Dow Jones and NVCA have attributed discrepancies to differences in methodology. Business and financial services companies also enjoyed an increase in venture financing, raising $34.9 million over seven deals - compared to $25.6 million over four deals in the year-ago period.
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