Monday, December 11, 2006

Report: 2006 Venture Capital Investments To Hit $32B

Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst & Young are reporting today that venture capital investors are on track to invest more than $32 billion in 2006, the most capital invested in the sector since 2001. The analysis, conducted by the two companies, found that there was $25.39B invested in the first three quarters of the year, with deal totals expected to top $32B after the fourth quarter. The study found interest in new markets, such as China, clean technology, and Web 2.0 were driving the invesments, and also cited M&A activity and liquidity in helping to drive the investment trend. The report found that there were 311 venture-backed M&As at the third quarter, and 56 IPOs this year globally.