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A second survey to be released today confirms that venture capitalists
boosted their investments into start-ups during this year's second
quarter, the first increase in three years.
They invested $4.28
billion during the quarter nationwide, compared with $4.04 billion
during the first quarter, according to the MoneyTree Survey,
conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Venture Economics and the
National Venture Capital Association.
Counting only Silicon Valley start-ups, investors pumped in $1.44
billion during the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.36
billion in the first quarter, according to MoneyTree.
Maya Ibrahim, a venture capitalist with Canaan Partners in Menlo
Park, said venture capitalists are offering more generous terms to
experienced entrepreneurs looking for funding, which has lured more
of them to seek to close deals.
``It feeds on itself,'' she said. ``If people are more
optimistic, they open up their pocketbooks, and buy from
start-ups.''
In a deal announced Monday, Ibrahim led a $9 million investment
into Addamark, a San Francisco software security company that
enables companies to store and manage log data to monitor security.
The survey follows data released Monday by Ernst & Young and
VentureOne, which showed a similar uptick in VC investing.
Here are some other freshly announced deals:
• Sunnyvale's CellGate, a
specialty pharmaceutical company creating medicines by combining
proprietary transporter molecules with existing drugs, raised $43.7
million in a fifth round of funding from VCs. The deal was closed in
June and was led by Sprout Group, according to Venture Wire, and
included existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Healthcare
Ventures.
• San Bruno's InQuira, a provider
of Web self-service and enterprise search software, said it raised
$9.25 million in a second round of funding. New investor Sutter Hill
Ventures led the round.
• Newark's Advanced Data Exchange,
a provider of supply-chain automation services, said it raised $10
million in a fourth round of funding, led by Sandler Capital
Management.
``There's certainly an uptick in the valley,'' said Peter Wagner,
a venture capitalist with Accel Partners. He said optimism among
investors has shown up in a number of ways, including better terms
for companies that are seeking follow-on financing, and more
financings of seed companies that haven't raised money before.
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