Related: VenCap Vroom-Vroom
No wonder tuition costs are rising and your pension statements have stagnated, America.
"Venture capitalists reawaken; Fourth quarter saw a surge in new deals" by D.C. Denison, Globe Staff | January 22, 2010
Venture capitalists dramatically cut the funding they provide to start-up and growth companies in 2009, as total investments plunged to their lowest level since 1997. But in a sign that the worst could be over, the end of the year saw an uptick in both dollars and number of deals.
As the stock market came back, huh?
See: TrimTabs Estimates Take-Home Pay of All Taxpayers in 2009 Plunged $800 Billion, or 12%, While Value of U.S. Stocks Surged $3.5 Trillion, or 27%
That's why your pension statements remain flat, America.
Those trends played out the same way in New England and across the country, according to the MoneyTree Report, which is scheduled to be released today. The report is authored by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and trade group the National Venture Capital Association, and is based on data from research firm Thomson Reuters.
I'm sorry. I no longer believe agenda-pushing reports.
In return for a share of the business, venture capitalists provide the funds companies need to start operations or grow.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Until the money is lost, that is.
Venture investments in 2009 totaled $17.7 billion, a 37 percent decrease in dollars and a 30 percent decrease in deal volume from 2008. It was the second consecutive year of deal and dollar declines.
Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, attributed the decline to the economic crisis of 2008, which peaked in the fall of that year and cast a pall over the venture community that lasted well into 2009.
“The venture capital industry had no choice but to slow the investment pace in 2009,’’ Heesen said.
But an increase in deals during the fourth quarter of 2009 caused some analysts to predict that the venture community was bouncing back from its recession doldrums.
Have you bounced back, America, from foreclosure and job loss?
Venture capitalists “placed more bets in the fourth quarter of 2009 than we’ve seen all year,’’ noted Tracy T. Lefteroff, global managing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Do you WANT THEM BETTING with YOUR ENDOWMENT or PENSION, America?
Although US biotechnology investing declined 19 percent in 2009 - in both dollars and deals - it was the sector that received the most funding, with $3.5 billion going into 406 deals. Biotech investment dollars rose 10 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, with $1 billion going into 108 deals. Biotech was also the number one sector for dollars invested in the fourth quarter and the only industry sector receiving more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter....
And did you know
"biotechnology companies, which can take years to turn a profit - if they ever do."
And it's going to cost you at least a billion-eight, taxpayers.
Probably MORE!
Also see: Who Stole Your Pension, America?
