Venture investments fall by half in Q4 2002
According to this AP story on the New York Times site, statistics compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Venture Economics for the National Venture Capital Association to be released Tuesday, show that investments in the fourth quarter of 2002 werer on par with the first quarter of 1998.
Last year's total was just slightly below the $21.5 billion invested by venture capitalists in 1998 -- the early stages of the dot-com mania that elevated the high-tech industry to dizzying heights.
Hoping to profit from the boom in tech stocks, venture capitalists poured $162 billion into startups during 1999 and 2000 while fattening their funds for future investments.
...In 2002, 756 companies received their first injection of venture capital, a 35 percent decline from 1,178 companies in 2001, the study said.