Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The List

New England's largest venture capital and private equity firms

By Lynette F. Cornell

See the table of New England's largest VC & private equity firms

Energy sector powering N.E. VC investment growth

Although no single industry is taking center stage in venture capital funding, the renewable energy sector has emerged as a standout in New England, according to Valerie Foo, a senior research manager at financial information firm Dow Jones & Co. The sector attracted $151 million last quarter, its highest quarterly total in the previous four years, said Foo. Biofuel and biomass companies in New England accounted for three of the top ten energy deals across the nation last quarter, she said. Business and financial services companies also had showed funding prominence in New England, capturing $138 million in the first quarter, but overall, firms are planting their investment dollars across a wider spectrum, she said.

“We’re seeing the VC industry as a whole becoming more diversified and many firms have a healthy spread in their portfolio,” Foo said.

Overall, New England is doing well in investments after seeing a 71 percent increase in investment last quarter, compared to the same time period last year, with 82 deals accounting for $905 million, she said. The deals were more heavily distributed to more established companies last quarter than in the same time period last year, with 62 percent versus 54 percent either already generating revenue or profitable, she said. Investments in companies at the startup stage stayed flat while companies in the product development stage, which tends to be more capital intensive, dropped slightly from 39 percent in the first quarter of  2010 to 31 percent in the first quarter of 2011. However, the median amount raised by these companies jumped 11 percent to $6 million in the first quarter of 2011, in comparison to the overall median of $5 million, Foo said. 

New England's largest VC and private equity firms
Ranked by amount invested in New England in 2010; ties ranked by total amount invested in 2010.

Source: MHT Research.  Firms that did not respond to survey requests are not included on this list.