Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Venture Totals Drop In Southern California For Quarter
A study of the venture capital deal flow in Southern California conducted by socalTECH shows that venture capital deals dropped for Q3, to around $720M in deals, in a market dominated by clean technology firms. The numbers, which were drawn from venture deals tracked and reported in socalTECH's proprietary venture capital database, found that there was $719.7M in venture capital deals in the third quarter, down dramatically from $1.2B invested in Q3 of 2007, and down slightly from venture numbers in Q2, when there was approximately $966M in venture deals.
The numbers--which are derived by socalTECH from venture deals reported by companies, in news, disclosed in regulatory filings, and otherwise publicly reported--showed that the biggest deals for the quarter were for SolarReserve, which raised $140M for its solar energy projects; Active Network, which scored $80M from ESPN and others; Fisker Automotive, with $65M, Sapphire Energy, with $50M; and Intelligent Beauty, which raised $43M. The numbers were driven by large dollar fundings in the clean technology sector, including large rounds to PowerGenix, Aptera Motors, and Pentadyne.
The most active investors for the quarter were the Tech Coast Angels, with 5 deals; the Pasadena Angels, with 3 deals; followed by Mission Ventures, First Round Capital, Venrock Associates, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, Okapi Venture Capital, Draper Associates, Idealab, and Redpoint Ventures, all with 2 deals each.
socalTECH tracks day-to-day venture capital activity in the Southern California region, and uses venture data disclosed by companies announcing funding; self-reported by both technology companies and venture firms; as well as regulatory filings and other sources. The totals reported may differ from other venture capital surveys, due to sources of information, timing of funding events, and classification of data. PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association, and VentureOne will release their quarterly nationwide results of venture activity later this month.