Q3 VC Deals Surge in NY, Texas and Northwest, But Falter in New England, LA and Midwest (slideshow)

Venture capitalists in general wrote fewer checks in the third quarter, but investment enthusiasm varied widely from region to region.

New York, Texas and the Pacific Northwest logged strong performances, despite an overall 12% decline in dollars going to startups nationwide, according to a peHUB analysis of MoneyTree Report data.

New England, the Midwest, the greater Los Angeles area and, to some extent, Silicon Valley slowed their deal making. The quarter saw New York fundings surge well ahead of those in New England and witnessed a strong rebound in Texas, which lagged in the second quarter.

Across the country, U.S. venture capitalists put $6.95 billion to work in 876 deals over the three months as financial market volatility kept a cap on risk taking, according to the MoneyTree Report released last week by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB). Activity was down from $7.9 billion in the second quarter when 1,015 deals received funding.

Software investing rose, but dollars going to life sciences, Internet startups and clean energy technologies fell.

In this frail environment, GPs in New York, Texas and the Northwest stepped up allocations to young companies. Those in New England, Los Angeles and the Midwest pared back sharply. Silicon Valley venture firms cut spending on startups, too, but at a more modest pace.

What follows is a slideshow of the top 10 investment regions in the third quarter with dollars, deals and their percentage share of the nation’s VC activity.

(Photo by Christopher Parypa/ShutterStock)

No. 10: San Diego

Third Quarter Dollars (Deals): $202 million (21 deals)

Second Quarter Dollars (Deals): $213 million (32 deals)

Percentage Share Dollars 3Q (Year to Date): 2.9% (2.7%)

Percentage Share Deals 3Q (Year to Date): 2.4% (3%)