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Venture Capital Deals Total $7.1B In Q3

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association reported over the weekend that nationwide, venture capital deals totaled $7.1B in 887 deals for the third quarter. The firms, which released their PwC/NVC MoneyTree Report, based on data from Thomson Financial over the weekend, reported that Southern California saw nearly $784.4M in venture deals for the quarter.

San Diego County lead the region in deal totals, with $359.2M in deals; Los Angeles County saw $342.4M in investments; and Orange County saw $82.625M. The largest financing for the quarter was for Thousand Oaks-based Ceres, which scored $75M in a venture round; other large fundings included Santa Monica-based Agensys, with $41.3M; and Sorrento Mesa-based SmartDrive Systems, with $41.0M raised.

The most active industries for investment for Q2 were Biotechnology, with $294.6M invested in the region, followed by nearly $103M in telecommunications deals; software firms also saw a great deal of investment, with $70.58M in investments spread across the area.

For the first time in several quarters, Southern California trailed New England in venture funding totals, as New England reported $998.0M in investments over 119 deals; versus 93 deals in Southern California. Silicon Valley continued to lead the nation, with $2.48B in investments over 287 deals.

Nationally, investments were down for the third quarter, from $7.2B and 1000 deals for Q2; sectors seeing increases in investment were Clean Tech, Internet, and Media and Entertainment; Life Sciences and Software saw slight declines in investment.