Venture capital investments receded nationwide in 2012, with double-digit decreases in funding for new cleantech and life sciences companies weighing upon the $26.5 billion that was invested in 3,698 companies nationwide. It marked a 10 percent slide from the $29.5 billion that VCs invested in 2011, with the deal count declining 6 percent (from 3,937), according to the MoneyTree Report.
The industry report, based on data from Thomson Reuters, is being released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).
U.S. venture funding already was lagging behind the pace set in 2011, and the fourth quarter was no exception. The $6.4 billion invested during the last three months was down 13 percent from the same quarter in 2011, when the MoneyTree survey counted $7.4 billion. The number of investments remained the same, however, with 968 deals counted in both quarters. The MoneyTree report shows that the $6.4 billion invested during the quarter also was 3 percent lower than the $6.6 billion VCs invested nationwide during the previous quarter, while the 968 deals marked a 5 percent rise over the 919 deals.
The extensive data covered in the MoneyTree survey more or less confirms trends we saw earlier this week in the quick snapshot from CB Insights, which tracked a 7.5 percent decline in 2012 VC investments nationwide. MoneyTree also provides lists of the top 10 deals for the fourth quarter and full year, which I’ve included below.
“Uncertainty played a huge factor, I think, in the decision-making in 2012 [in terms] of whether to invest or not,” said Tracy Lefteroff, who leads PricewaterhouseCoopers’ national practice for U.S. pharmaceuticals and life sciences companies. “We had the election, taxes, government policy in spending, just the general environment of the stock markets and equity markets. As well as trouble with things in the life sciences, such as the regulatory environment and things along those lines.”
The software boom continued during
