Pacific Northwest companies raised $141.7 million from venture capitalists in the third quarter, a decrease of almost 19 percent from the year earlier period, while the number of deals remained essentially flat at 36.
That contrasts to a 17 percent year-over-year increase in venture investment nationally to nearly $7.8 billion, according to the latest PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters.
Venture investment in Northwest companies—those based in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming—through the first three quarters of this year totals $526.5 million, off 21 percent from the first nine months of 2012. The number of deals is nearly identical: 114 so far in 2013 versus 113 to this point in 2012.
Kymeta, the Redmond, WA-based spinout from Intellectual Ventures working on novel materials technologies for satellite antennas, claimed the biggest round of the quarter, raising $50 million. That wasn’t enough to crack the national top 10 deals list for the quarter.
Other top third-quarter deals by investment size include $13 million raised by Jama Software of Portland, OR, to expand sales of its project management software, and $10 million for MicroGREEN Polymers, the Arlington, WA-based manufacturer of beverage cups made from recycled plastic.
There were 22 investments in seed and early stage companies, mainly in software and Internet services, during the quarter.
Software is in favor nationally, claiming $3.6 billion in the quarter, breaking the $3 billion mark for the first time since the second quarter of 2001. The sector also accounted for nine of the top 11 deals in the quarter.
