Jul. 29–Venture capitalists are taking more chances with new and early-stage companies in Georgia, a sign that investor caution may be relaxing.<\/p>\n
Where in previous quarters established companies received the most funding, in the second quarter the newbies got some money, according to the recent MoneyTree Survey, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.<\/p>\n
Six companies got their first round of funding, and nearly half of all companies receiving capital were early-stage, said Susan O’Dwyer, a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
“Early-stage companies have lots of opportunity and potential to grow and expand, as they are usually at the beginning stage of the company life cycle. That builds ‘buzz,’ which means more entrepreneurs try to jump-start their ideas into the marketplace to attract funding,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It also means that venture funds are looking at new companies, as opposed to just continuing up with follow-on rounds to previously funded and already-known companies.”<\/p>\n
This mirrored the national trend.<\/p>\n
“Early-stage and start-up are beginning to hold their own,” said Jesse Reyes of Thomson Venture Economics. “Venture capitalists are not looking at what is hot today but looking at what is going to be hot six or seven years from now.”<\/p>\n
Georgia dropped one spot on the list of states for venture capital in the second quarter, ranking 13th with 19 deals worth $58.4 million.<\/p>\n
Software companies got the most deals — nine, worth $45.1 million. Among them was a $10 million first-round deal with Procuri, an Atlanta-based company founded in 1999.<\/p>\n
Nationally, venture investing inched up in the second quarter with 669 deals worth $4.3 billion, vs. 647 deals worth $4.0 billion in the previous quarter.<\/p>\n
This was the first time investing increased, quarter over quarter, in about two years.<\/p>\n
“The signs are encouraging, if not yet definitive,” said Tracy Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Venture capital appears to be settling out at its natural level. Quarterly investing in the $4 billion range is sustainable and well in line with historical norms. Serious entrepreneurs can be cautiously optimistic at this point.”<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
To see more of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http:\/\/www.ajc.com<\/p>\n
(c) 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Knight Ridder\/Tribune Business News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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