Give venture capitalists credit – in the face of some ugly liquidity numbers, they’re finding reasons to be optimistic.
The value of acquisitions of venture-backed companies in the third quarter dropped to $2.3 billion, down from $2.8 billion the previous quarter and from $5.2 billion in the third quarter of 2008, according to VentureSource, a research unit of VentureWire publisher Dow Jones & Co. (Those numbers don’t include the Amazon.com Inc. acquisition of Zappos.com Inc. for more than $800 million, which was announced in the third quarter and which VentureSource confirmed Wednesday has not yet officially closed.)
But the picture isn’t entirely without hope – at least not on the IPO side. Though there have only been five venture-backed companies to go public this year and only two in the third quarter, the overall strength of those offerings is making venture capitalists optimistic about the exit potential for their portfolios.
WSJ: Liquidity Numbers Down - Again - But VCs Still Looking On Bright Side
