Monday, October 19, 2009

Venture Deals Total $5.1B, Bay Area Investments Fall, Says Dow Jones

Venture capital activity in the San Francisco Bay Area fell 33% in Q3, according to a report released over the weekend by Dow Jones VentureSource. According to the report, investments in the San Francisco Bay Area totaled only $2.2 billion, with 183 deals, down 33% from Q3 of last year. The drop reflected a national drop, which saw venture investments total only $5.1 billion in 616 deals. Dow Jones said the numbers point to the "worst investment year since 2003." Nationally, investments were down 38 percent year to year. Despite the drop, Dow Jones said that California represented 41 percent of the nation's deal flow, and 54% of the capital invested in Q3.