PRINT THIS PAGE US venture capital investment sustains momentum in Q1 0426/04/2004. Source: AltAssets. 
 Investment in US venture-backed companies reached $5.1bn in the first quarter of 2004, according to figures released by Ernst & Young and VentureOne. Larger deals pushed the total dollars invested up five per cent to the highest amount in almost two years and the biopharmaceutical segment attracted its largest infusion of venture capital spending ever, with $1.5bn invested in 57 deals.
'The biopharmaceutical segment is really the new bellwether for the venture capital industry as a whole,' said John Gabbert, vice president of Worldwide Research for VentureOne. 'Half of the largest deals in this quarter were for biopharmaceutical companies. In fact, this segment attracted 29 per cent of all investments this quarter.'
Information technology activity held steady with 283 deals in the first quarter of the year, just nine deals less than in the previous quarter. The amount invested in IT rose four per cent to$2.6bn. IT deal flow accounted for 61 per cent of financing rounds, up from 53 per cent last quarter.
'IT investing has turned a corner this quarter for two reasons,' said Robb Browne of Ernst & Young. 'One, the proportion of investment devoted to IT has returned to historical levels. Two, the activity we're seeing in the market suggests that VCs are building a robust pipeline of technology investments which will become apparent in coming quarters.'
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