New York, January 11, 2009 – US venture capital firms raised $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 from 32 funds, according to Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). For full year 2009, venture capital fundraising totaled $15.2 billion from 120 funds, a 47% decline by dollars committed and slowest year for fundraising since 2003. By numbers of funds, fundraising activity in 2009 will mark the slowest annual period since 1993.
"Many venture firms voluntarily stayed out of the fundraising market in 2009, a dynamic that clearly is reflected in the lower volumes,” said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. “However, most of these firms will not be afforded the luxury of continuing to wait for market conditions to improve in 2010. They will be out in the market raising funds alongside firms that were already scheduled to raise this year. It promises to be a defining period as we will gain a better sense as to what the venture capital industry will resemble in the next decade. All signs point to a leaner, more capital efficient asset class comprised of firms with proven track records of delivering value to limited partners. Not all firms will make that cut, but the ones that do will be very well positioned to invest.”
