VC investing at more than a decade low.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: VENTURE CAPITAL - Brief article

Venture capitalists invested $17.7 billion in 2,795 deals last year, marking the lowest level of dollar investment since 1997, according to the Money Tree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The report is based on data from Thomson Reuters.

Venture investments in 2009 represented a 37-percent decrease in dollars and a 30-percent decrease in deal volume from 2008. It was the second consecutive year of annual deal and dollar declines. Investments in the fourth quarter last year totaled $5 billion in 794 deals--a 2-percent dollar increase but a 15-percent increase in the number of deals from the third quarter of 2009, when $5.1 billion was invested in 689 deals.

Investment dollars also fell across every stage of development category, with the exception of a 2-percent increase in "seed-stage" investments.

First-time financings fell to the lowest dollar and deal level since 1995; however, fourth quarter investing did show increases in the number of first-time and early-stage deals completed, potentially marking the beginning of an...