Venture investors took their foot off the gas in the first quarter and cut back on the money they pump into young companies by 19%. This could be the result of last year’s public market volatility or another sign the venture business’s consolidation.

Venture capitalists pulled back in the first quarter, investing $5.8 billion in 758 deals and shifting money to later-stage companies ahead of an improving IPO market.

In total corporate investors poured $2.3 billion in 551 deals in 2011, up 15% in both dollars and deals, the MoneyTree Report shows.

Last year brought a broad-based rebound in venture investing. Dollars committed rose 22% and most industry sectors benefited. Software, biotech, cleantech, Internet, medical devices and IT services all saw an increase in dollars to startups. But a noticeable shift in the funding landscape set 2011 apart from the past decade. Early stage investing leapt to [...]

Venture investing fell in the fourth quarter to its slowest pace of the year, but capital commitments were enough to lift 2011 well above lethargic 2010. Fourth-quarter deal making was particularly strong in cleantech and among biotechnology startups, but software, Internet, medical devices and IT services investing fell. Early-stage investing hit a high for the [...]

It is hard not to be gloomy with the broad challenges facing investing and venture investing in particular. The European sovereign debt crisis is like a flu that won’t go away. Domestic economic growth may be picking up, but it remains uninspiring, especially with another European recession on the horizon. Finally, unemployment is intractably high, [...]

The headlines following this month’s third quarter MoneyTree Report on venture investing pointed to a quarterly pullback amid a volatile financial environment. But closer inspection shows a more stable investment landscape than might be expected. True, the high level numbers look abrupt: a 12% drop in money allocated and a 14% decline in deals. But [...]

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 [...]

After advancing for three quarters, venture investing retreated in the third quarter, likely shaken by global financial volatility but also a reflection of a shift to a faster, more capital efficient way to make money. Quarterly investments totaled $6.95 billion with 876 deals receiving funding, according to the MoneyTree Report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the [...]

Several weeks ago we reported that life sciences investing rose 37% from the first to the second quarters. Here are some additional details, courtesy of PricewaterhouseCoopers: First, with venture capitalists earmarking $2.1 billion for 206 companies, the quarter was the seventh best on record since the MoneyTree Report began collecting data in 1995. The MoneyTree [...]