Monday, July 11, 2011

Venture Fundraising Up, But Number of Funds Down

A report this morning from Dow Jones says that venture capital fundraising in the first half of the year was up 19 percent, however, those funds went to a smaller number of name-brand venture firms. According to Dow Jones, fundraising was up 20 percent over the same period a year ago, reaching $8.1 billion, but with only 50 funds closing, down 38 percent in terms of the number of funds. That compares with 81 venture funds raising $6.8 billion in the first half of 2010. Dow Jones' VentureWire editor Scott Austin said in the report that "This year and next will be make-or-break for scores of venture capital firms in search of new funds."