Fund-Raising By U.S. Venture Capital Funds Fell 55% in 2009: We Have the Boston, San Diego, and Seattle Details, Too

Originally posted on Healthcare Alerts

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

2010-01-11
It’s probably not much consolation for the entrepreneurs who tried to raise venture funding last year, but U.S. venture capital firms raised much less money from their institutional investors in 2009 than they have in recent years.

New figures from Dow Jones LP Source show that fund-raising by venture firms in 2009 fell almost 55 percent compared to 2008, with 120 funds raising slightly more than $13 billion nationwide. In 2008, 204 VC firms raised a total of $28.7 billion from pension funds, university endowments, insurance companies, wealthy individuals, and other investors. It hasn’t been that slow for VCs since 2003, according to Dow Jones.

The drop in VC fund-raising reflected a broader decline across the U.S. private equity spectrum, with buyout firms, funds-of-funds, and mezzanine firms all showing precipitous drops last year. Altogether, Dow Jones says 331 U.S. funds raised a total of $95.8 billion in 2009—down a staggering 68 percent from the $299.9 billion that 508 funds raised in 2008.

Read full article here

Global Administrator | 1/13/2010 10:53:37 AM | 0 Comments