Venture Capitalists Invest In 21 Percent Of 3,900 New Businesses

Santa Clara, CA (AHN) - Venture capitalists invested in 21 percent of 3,900 start-up businesses and funded 8 percent of $31 billion invested in fledgling enterprises in 2007.

According to a report by the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the bold initiative by venture capitalists last year, however, was reduced in the first quarter of 2008 because the economic slowdown made companies more cautious when making investment decisions.

But it had not prevented large firms such as IBM, Novartis, Samsung, Intel, NTT DoCoMo and other companies from searching for start-ups in technology, energy, life sciences and other major sectors. IBM's venture hunting has brought the firm to China, India, Europe and Latin America.

According to Tracy Lefteroff, global manging partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, venture capitalists had learned their lesson from the dot-com crash in 2001. Instead of immediately purchasing stocks of start-ups, they help build new firms over 10 to 12 years.

"We've come full circle," Lefteroff told the USA Today, adding,"Corporations are investing for strategic reasons, looking for new technology and products that fit their corporate missions."

To help companies pick the right venture capitalist that fit their specs, TheFunded stared to publish on Tuesday a list of the best venture capitalists. The ratings of the VCs are based on reviews provided by entrepreneurs.