• Join your peers at SSTI's 2024 Annual Conference!

    Join us December 10-12 in Arizona to connect with and learn from your peers working around the country to strengthen their regional innovation economies. Visit ssticonference.org for more information and to register today.

  • Become an SSTI Member

    As the most comprehensive resource available for those involved in technology-based economic development, SSTI offers the services that are needed to help build tech-based economies.  Learn more about membership...

  • Subscribe to the SSTI Weekly Digest

    Each week, the SSTI Weekly Digest delivers the latest breaking news and expert analysis of critical issues affecting the tech-based economic development community. Subscribe today!

1999 VC at $21 Billion and Climbing

November 19, 1999
  • Forward logo
  • LinkedIn logo

Venture capital investments for the third quarter of 1999 (3Q 1999) passed $9 billion, pushing the year’s total already above $21 billion, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Money Tree™ Survey. For comparison, investments reported for all of 1998 were under $14 billion.



The $9.04 billion results for 3Q 1999 surpass the previous record of $7.64 billion set in the second quarter of 1999. Third quarter investments in 1999 were 138 percent higher than those reported in the third quarter of 1998.



The number of companies receiving funds grew to 993 — compared to 707 companies one year earlier.  Average deal size per company also grew to $9.1 million from $5.4 million.



Technology companies continue to dominate the portfolios of the survey’s 504 responding venture capital firms. Investments in Internet-based companies jumped almost five-fold from third quarter 1998 to $5.2 billion in 3Q 1999 — or 57 percent of the quarter’s total. The number of Internet-based companies rose from 162 in the third quarter of 1998 to 473 during 3Q 1999.



Results by state are presented in the accompanying table (investment dollars in millions) at http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/111999t.htm Practically every region of the country set new records, according to the survey. Significant geographic disparities remain, however. Investments in Silicon Valley represented 36.8 percent of the total reported in 3Q 1999, up slightly from the 34.8 percent tallied for the region during the previous quarter.



More detailed information for the current quarter’s survey results can be found on the Web at: http://204.198.129.80/index.asp