The quarterly venture capital survey by Dow Jones VentureSource was released earlier today, showing a trend that’s generally in line with data previously reported by CB Insights and The MoneyTree Report. Dow Jones says venture-backed companies in the U.S. raised $5.5 billion in the third quarter—a 5 percent drop in funding from the $5.8 billion that Dow Jones counted in the same quarter last year, but a 2.5 percent increase in the number of deals.
The trend was similar—but not as pronounced—as data from CB Insights, which said the $5.4 billion in third-quarter venture capital nationwide was the lowest funding level since mid-2009, but the 715 venture deals was the second highest deal tally in two years. The MoneyTree Report on third-quarter venture funding showed a similar trend, with $4.8 billion was invested in 780 venture deals nationwide during the recent quarter.
I’ve abandoned all hope that the numbers from these different surveys will ever match. Each group uses different methodologies, with variations in the way they categorize some deals and sometimes when and how venture deals get counted. The differences sometimes highlight interesting issues, but this time all three are trending in the same direction—a larger number of smaller venture deals.
Dow Jones reported that software investments during the quarter increased by two-thirds to just over $1 billion (in 159 deals) nationwide, compared with $614 million (in 107 deals) during the third quarter of 2009. Venture investments in healthcare garnered more than $1.7 billion (164 deals), declining almost 11 percent from more than $1.9 billion (187 deals) during the same quarter of 2009. Venture investments in information technology, which includes software, totaled $1.84 billion (232 deals) nationwide, a 34 percent increased over the $1.37 billion (189 deals) in the year ago quarter.