U.S. Venture Capital Fundraising on Track to Surpass 2005 Levels

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 1, 2006 - 3:21pm.

San Francisco - Venture capital fundraising in the U.S. looks to be on track to surpass the level of a year ago, according to new figured from Dow JonesVentureOne. During the third quarter, a total of $6.69 billion was raised in 21 funds -- a monetary increase of 17% from the same period in 2005, despite nine fewer funds.

Through the first three quarters, $19.66 billion has been raised by venture capital firms, about $3 billion more than last year. VentureOne noted that more than a fifth of the funds raised so far this year are worth at least $500 million, up from just 8% last year.

"Increasing globalization is pushing firms to raise ever larger sums to enable them to support new start-ups around the world," said Stephen Harmston, the director of global research for VentureOne. "As a result, smaller funds of less than $100 million in size are becoming increasingly rare." Baltimore-based New Enterprise Associates has raised the largest fund this year, at $2.5 billion.

Related Links:
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http://www.ventureone.com