Southern California Raises Over $1B In VC In Q1 2007

A recent analysis of the socalTECH.com venture database finds that there was over $1.15B in venture capital deals disclosed or announced in Q1 of 2007 in Southern California, up significantly from the same quarter last year, when there were $800.7M in investments in the region. Among the biggest announced deals in the quarter was the $110M funding of San Diego-based CardioNet, followed by $70M for Vantage Media in Venice, then $50M from Beverly Hills' Real D. Two other significant deals were not announced but were disclosed in regulatory filings and other reports, including a $110M round from Amp'd Mobile and $63M for alternative energy firm Altra Biofuels.

The most active investors in Southern California in the quarter was the Tech Coast Angels, which had 11 deals disclosed during the quarter, followed by Domain Associates (7 deals), Versant Ventures (6 deals), then CMEA Ventures, Enterprise Partner, and Mission Ventures, all with four deals each.

socalTECH tracks day-to-day venture capital activity in the Southern California region, and uses venture data disclosed by companies announcing funding; self-reported by both technology companies and venture firms; as well as regulatory filings and other sources. The totals reported will differ from other venture capital surveys, due to sources of information, timing of funding events, and classification of data. PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association, and Ernst & Young/VentureOne will release their quarterly nationwide results of venture activity later this month.