Venture investments sink to lowest level since 1998
Venture-capital investments reached their lowest level in four years during the 3rd quarter in the latest VentureOne and Ernst & Young survey according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
$3.9 billion was invested in 464 financial rounds of investing during the quarter. It was the weakest level of investment since $3.7 billion in the third quarter of 1998.
Despite that, the median amount of capital invested in each deal rose to $6.7 million from $6 million in the second quarter of this year. The average for the third quarter in 2001 was also $6 million.
One bright spot was the software industry. Software companies had a 35% share of acquisitions and venture capital, and investment in software grew 28%, or $1.2 billion, for the third quarter.