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U.S. VC Funding reaches new high in a decade
By siliconindia
In the first quarter of 2011, U.S. venture funds raised $7.7 billion. The same quarter of last year saw funding of $3.9 billion, just over half the present amount. This years amount also marked the highest ever since 2001, says a report by Dow Jones. Contrary to this the quarter also marked the least number of funds closed since 2003. The report spotted that a small number of large funds from Sequoia Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and other firms played a significant role in lifting the amount of capital raised.
"With some of the larger U.S. venture funds closed and the industry with more than half the 2010 fund-raising total already in its pocket, the next couple of quarters will tell us if limited partners hit their spending limit for venture funds or will continue to commit capital to the asset class," says Scott Austin, editor of Dow Jones VentureWire. The U.S. private equity spectrum, which includes venture capital, raised $31.6 billion in the first quarter, more than double the amount raised during the same period last year.
In the U.S., early-stage funds collected $3.9 billion for 16 funds, a significant spike from the same period last year when $736 million was raised for 18 funds. However, two funds accounted for all but $500 million of the total for the most recent quarter. Later-stage funds, which did not register any capital during the first quarter of 2010, collected $1.5 billion for two funds in this year's first quarter, while multi-stage funds lost some momentum and had to settle for $2.3 billion, 26 percent less than the same period last year.
One the other hand the European venture firms are going through their worst phase in years with just over $653 million for five funds during the first quarter, down from $1.3 billion for 13 funds during the same period in 2010.
